A Finchel Season 5
by FinchelFan728
Summary: Rachel has just received the most disappointing news of her career. Finn is at a crossroads and trying to decide what to do with his life. Both of them are missing each other. All events from Seasons 1-4 are canon, but this is how I think Season 5 would and should have gone. Mostly Finchel, but others as well.
1. Chapter 1: They Didn't Want Me

_Hi! Thanks to all of you for all your support of my stories over the past three years! As promised, here's my new story - a Finchel version of Season 5! Some of the Season 5 events will be similar to the actual Season 5, but of course, Finn will NOT die and the season will mostly focus on Finchel! I won't give too much away, but I will say that Finn will go to New York soon! Hope you guys like the first chapter and review if you think I should write more!_

Chapter 1: They Didn't Want Me

Rachel found herself wishing she'd gone to Lima for Regionals with Kurt and Santana.

Her Funny Girl audition was before Regionals, so even though Kurt and Santana were gone by then, she could have gone with them. Or she at least could have gone a little after they left. At least if she was in Lima, she'd be with her friends from high school, seeing them compete and having distractions rather than sitting in her apartment waiting.

It could take weeks before they called her back. So why was she sitting around her apartment waiting to hear from the Funny Girl producers?

Kurt and Santana had tried to convince her to go to Lima with them. Other than the wedding attempt, she hadn't been back since the production of Grease. She'd stayed in New York for Thanksgiving, she and her dads had gone on the cruise for Christmas and New Year's, and her dads were planning on coming to New York for her spring break.

She knew the main reason why she hadn't been back much. It was because of Finn. She missed him so much. She considered not going back for the wedding, but Kurt and Santana had talked her into it, and seeing Finn had been nice. They'd gone out to lunch together, sang together, slept together - it felt just like old times. But when Rachel woke up in the middle of the night after she and Finn had sex, she remembered that she wasn't with Finn. As much as she wanted to be with Finn instead of Brody, what she'd done was wrong. She knew the only way to not risk cheating on Brody more was to leave Lima and catch an earlier flight back to New York.

Of course, once she got back to New York, everything went downhill. It wasn't that things were going well before, in fact, very few things had gone the way she'd hoped. NYADA wasn't the school of her dreams like she thought it would be. Classes often felt like a chore. It was true that she didn't expect to be as special as she was at McKinley, but she'd met many people at NYADA who were much more talented than she was. The worst class, of course, was dance. It felt like Cassandra July was always going after her. Every day, Cassandra seemed to find something to poke at Rachel about. She acted supportive about Rachel's callback, but Rachel had a feeling Cassandra really had ulterior motives.

The worst thing about this year, of course, was Brody. Brody had been friendly to her at the beginning of the year and Rachel had appreciated it. Then Brody began developing feelings for her, and Rachel couldn't resist. It wasn't because she had feelings for him though. It was like she told Brody when they broke up, it was to fill the void in her life. It was really because she missed Finn.

She figured she couldn't be too angry about Brody lying to her because she'd lied to him as well. He had put her in danger though, by sleeping with the women he had sex with as a prostitute. Rachel hadn't even wanted to have sex with Brody, but he pressured her.

Rachel thought she'd done well at both her audition and her callback, but she didn't know how the other girls had done or what type of experience they had. Then, it happened. Her phone rang.

Rachel picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Rachel Berry?" the voice on the other end said.

"Yes," Rachel said.

"Rachel, this is Rupert Campion, the director for Funny Girl," the voice said.

"Hi," Rachel said. This was soon. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"Rachel, thank you so much for trying out for Funny Girl," Rupert said. "You are an amazing singer, and you have a bright future ahead of you, but I'm sorry to let you know that someone else has been selected for the role."

Rachel didn't know what to say. This was a longshot, but it hurt nonetheless. "Well, thank you for considering me," Rachel managed to say.

"You're very welcome," Rupert said. "Rachel, in a few weeks we'll be having auditions for the understudy. I hope to see you then."

"I'll think about it," Rachel said. The truth was, she was so embarrassed, she wasn't sure if she wanted to try out for the understudy role. "Good luck with your production," she managed to say.

"Thank you," Rupert said. "Good luck with your career."

Rachel hung up the phone, feeling somewhat relieved that Kurt and Santana were in Lima. She could cry in peace. And that's what she did.

She knew that getting the part wasn't likely. At the same time, this had been her dream her whole life. It was so close, and she'd missed out. She'd told everyone she was trying out, and now she hadn't made it.

She knew what she needed to do. She needed to talk to Finn. As soon as she finished crying, she wiped her tears and dialed Finn's number. She knew Regionals were later today, but she just needed to hear his voice.

After a few rings, the phone was picked up. "Hello?"

"Finn, it's Rachel," Rachel said softly.

"Rachel!" Finn said. "I wish you'd come back for Nationals with Kurt and Santana. Mike and Mercedes are here, too. We just need you, Quinn and Puck, and it would be like old times."

"I miss you, Finn," Rachel said, feeling the tears starting to come back. "How are Regionals?"

"We're on in two hours," Finn said. "We've checked in and we're just waiting around." He paused. "Rachel, are you okay? You don't sound like the happy, upbeat Rachel I know and love."

Rachel knew that Finn knew her too well. "Finn, Funny Girl called. They don't want me."

"What?" Finn gasped.

"They didn't say why," Rachel said. "He said that I was talented, but they selected someone else."

"You were perfect for that role!" Finn protested.

"Apparently not," Rachel sighed.

"Oh my gosh," Finn said. "I'm so sorry, Rachel. When did you find out?"

"They just called," Rachel said. "Finn, I just wish I was there. If I was with you and our friends, I think that I'd feel better."

"I wish you were here, too," Finn said. "Does anyone else know?"

"You're the only person I've told," Rachel said. Whenever there was something big, good or bad, she always went to Finn first. "Please don't tell anyone yet, okay? I'm not ready for people to know."

"I won't, I promise," Finn said. "I'll call you tonight after the competition, okay?"

"Okay," Rachel said. "Good luck today."

"Thanks," Finn said before they said goodbye and hung up the phone. Rachel wanted badly to tell Finn that she loved him, but she knew it wasn't her place. Today was going to be a long day, she knew it. She just hoped the New Directions would do well.

x

Finn had been happy to hear from Rachel, but at the same time, he couldn't believe it. Rachel hadn't gotten the part? That felt so wrong. He was sure she would get it. She'd been singing the songs from Funny Girl all throughout high school and she loved the movie. And she was so talented. She'd had such a bad year and he was hoping that she'd get the part. He knew that getting the part would make things better.

The group went to sit in the seats in the audience to watch the other groups perform. It was true that the Hoosierdaddies were supposed to have a really talented lead singer, and that after Regionals the New Directions would have to find new members because Brittany would have to start college early and Ryder was threatening to quit (and Sugar and Joe hadn't been coming to rehearsal very often...), but Finn couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. She shouldn't be in New York alone. He wished he could be with her.

This year hadn't been the best one for him either. Ever since he got rejected from Pace, he felt at a crossroads. Rachel had offered to stay in Lima an extra year, but he worried that if she tried to defer from NYADA, they wouldn't let her back in. Then he'd gone to the army and been asked to leave. Helping out with coaching the glee club had been fun, but there was the Sectionals loss and the embarrassment when he kissed Miss Pillsbury. He was helping out with the New Directions again and taking classes at the University of Lima, but he definitely missed Rachel.

"Hey, was that Rachel who called earlier?" Kurt asked Finn.

"Yeah," Finn said.

"Well, did she hear back?" Kurt asked.

Finn remembered what Rachel had told him about telling people. "Not yet." Besides, he thought that Rachel would want to be the one to tell her best friend about what happened. "She was just calling to tell me to wish everyone luck."

"We tried to convince her to come with us, but she wanted to stay behind in case she heard back," Santana said.

"Well, when you get back, tell her we all missed her," Finn said. He was hoping that he could visit at some point, but now that he was in college, that would make things more complicated.

The other two glee clubs performed, and then it was time for the New Directions to gather backstage. The lead singer of the Hoosierdaddies had an amazing voice, but she was no Rachel.

Brittany gave a speech to the New Directions about how much they meant to her, and then Mr. Schue turned to Kurt and Santana. "Any word from Rachel?"

"She called to wish you guys luck," Finn said. "She hasn't heard anything yet."

"Well, we're all wishing her luck," Blaine said before the whole group brought it in. Finn knew that if Rachel had gotten the part, the whole group would have been in the audience on opening night.

He'd done some stupid things this year. One of the things he'd done recently was something he was sure Rachel would be angry about. He could barely focus on the Regional competition, he was mostly thinking about Rachel. The glee club sounded good on Hall Of Fame, I Love It and Marley's original song, and they won a spot to Nationals. Of course, now they'd need to find two more members. Then when they were celebrating in the choir room, Miss Pillsbury came in with a minister and they had the wedding right then and there in the choir room. When the group went out for the night, Finn went back to his dorm and called Rachel again.

"Hey," he heard her say softly as soon as he called.

"Hey," he said. "How are you holding up?"

She sighed. "I wish you were here."

So did he. He missed her so much. When she started dating Brody, he feared she didn't love him anymore. "Maybe coming home for a few days would help you feel better about everything."

"I want to," Rachel sighed. "I still have classes. Gosh, I don't want to go to class. Cassandra and Brody and those two guys Kurt doesn't like are probably going to give me a really hard time about it."

"Maybe they won't find out," Finn said. He knew what guys Rachel was talking about.

"Of course they will," Rachel sighed. "Everyone at NYADA reads the Broadway message boards..."

"Please, can you come home for a few days?" Finn asked Rachel. "I think if you came home, you'd feel better about everything. Plus I'd get to see you again."

"I'm going to see if I can get a flight to come visit for a few days," Rachel said.

"Good," Finn said. "Try to even get one tomorrow. Everyone's in town and we all miss you."

"Maybe it'll make me feel better," Rachel said. "I'll see you soon."

"You hang in there, okay?" Finn asked. He wanted to say that he loved Rachel, but he knew he couldn't say that right now. He just hoped she'd sleep okay tonight and would be home soon.

_Chapter 2 preview: Rachel comes home to visit for the weekend, still dealing with being rejected by Funny Girl. We find out what's happened in Finn's life that he regrets._


	2. Chapter 2: Home Again

_Thanks so much for all your reviews on the first chapter! I really appreciated them! In this chapter, it is revealed that Finn is dating someone else, but I think that's what the writers had planned for the beginning of Season 5. Don't worry though, it won't last long! Finchel will be back together VERY soon ;) Anyway, enjoy this chapter and let me know if you want me to continue!_

Chapter 2: Home Again

Finn didn't mean for this to happen.

He didn't want to date someone other than Rachel.

It had just sort of... happened.

Shortly after Finn started college and went back to help out at McKinley, Sue told him that even though he was just a volunteer, he'd need to be vaccinated because he was working with the kids. When he went to the nurse's office to get his vaccinations, he noticed that someone he didn't recognize was working there.

The girl in the nurse's office had told him that her name was Penny and that she was a sophomore in college doing an internship at McKinley. She was cute and she seemed nice. She was hitting on Finn when she vaccinated him and then asked him if he wanted to go out sometime.

Finn had said yes. At the time, he was sure that Rachel was going to get the part and that she wouldn't be home any time soon. While he and Rachel had begun talking again, he didn't think they'd get back together any time soon.

Penny was nice, sure, and Finn had fun with her, but it was friends type of fun, not boyfriend-girlfriend type of fun.

Finn was thinking about Rachel the whole time he was at Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury's wedding ceremony. She'd said she didn't want a big wedding because she thought it would be too stressful. Finn could barely listen to their vows. He couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. Was she okay? Had she told anyone else? Would she be coming back to Lima soon?

Then as Finn was leaving the choir room, he heard someone calling out to him. "Finn!"

Finn turned and saw Penny. Crap. With everything that was on his mind about Rachel, he'd forgotten that he'd been seeing someone else for a few weeks now.

"Hey," Finn said.

"You guys did such a great job," Penny said, hugging Finn. "So, are we still on for Breadstix tonight?"

Finn gulped. What if Rachel got in tonight. Luckily for Finn, Kurt turned to Penny and took over. "Hello," Kurt said. "I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting. I'm Kurt, Finn's brother."

"I'm Penny," Penny said. "Finn's girlfriend."

Kurt turned to Finn. "Girlfriend? Finn, why didn't you tell me you were dating?"

"Oh, it's not serious," Finn said. "It hasn't been very long." He didn't know what to say. He couldn't say to another girl in front of her that he was dating her to fill a void in his life.

"Oh, I see," Kurt said, not looking convinced. Finn felt more and more uncomfortable. "Do you mind if I talk to my brother for a minute?"

"Oh, sure," Penny said.

Kurt took Finn's arm and cornered him into the men's room. "So, told Rachel about your new girlfriend?"

"No!" Finn said. "And you're not going to tell her either."

"Well, you'd better be happy that she's waiting to hear back about Funny Girl and that I don't want to give her anything else to stress out about," Kurt said. "Otherwise I would tell her. I'm surprised Blaine didn't tell me."

Finn almost told "Oh, we're keeping things quiet," Finn said. He wasn't sure if anyone in glee knew because like he said, he'd been pretty casual about it.

"I see," Kurt said.

"What about you?" Finn asked, hoping to get attention off himself. "How are things going with Adam?"

"Adam's a good friend, he's nice, but I miss Blaine," Kurt said. "Seeing him this week has reminded me of how much I miss him."

"So you're feeling better about what happened?" Finn asked Kurt.

"Yeah," Kurt said. "I'm not saying it was right of him, but I get why he did it. I basically turned my back on him, and that wasn't right."

"Do you think Rachel still loves me?" Finn asked Kurt.

"Why should you care?" Kurt asked. "You have a girlfriend."

"Well, you have a boyfriend, but you told me you miss Blaine," Finn shot back.

Kurt gave Finn a look. "Of course. She talks about you all the time and she has photos of you two all over the apartment."

So she did still love him. And he knew he still loved her. So why had he started dating another girl when he knew he still loved Rachel?

Then Finn heard a knock on the door. "Finn, are you almost ready?" Penny called.

Finn sighed. "Yeah, just a minute." He turned to Kurt. "Maybe you and I can hang out before you go back to New York?"

"Of course," Kurt said. He turned to Penny. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Penny said. She took Finn's hand and began walking to the parking lot. Her hand didn't feel right in his the way Rachel's did.

x

Rachel sighed as she looked through the plane ticket times to Lima. There was one tomorrow. Well, she'd have to fly into Toledo and take the bus to Lima. Maybe Finn was right. Some time away from New York would probably be good for her. There were reminders of the failed audition all over New York.

Rachel looked at the photos of her and Finn in her room. She wished he'd stuck around when he came to New York to confront Brody. She wished that she'd gone to Lima with Kurt and Santana for Regionals. She could have seen the New Directions perform. Mercedes and Mike were back in town as well, and Rachel would have liked to see her dads as well. Rachel booked the flight to Ohio, feeling at least a little better. Before she had time to do more thinking, her phone went off.

"Hey," Rachel said as she picked up the phone.

"Hey," Finn said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm coming home tomorrow," Rachel said. "I just think I'd feel better if I saw you and everyone, you know?"

"Of course you will," Finn said. "I'm glad you're coming home. What time's your flight getting in?"

"Four," Rachel said.

"I'll pick you up at the airport," Finn said. "It can give us some time together to make up for me not staying in New York longer."

Rachel smiled to herself. "That sounds great."

"Have you told anyone else yet?" Finn asked.

Rachel sighed. "No. I'm afraid to... I'll tell my dads when I get to Lima."

"What about Kurt?" Finn asked.

Rachel paused. "I'll consider telling him."

"He's your best friend," Finn told Rachel. "He should know."

"I'm just worried I'll look bad," Rachel said. "I really made everyone think that I was going to succeed... and now I've been denied a part. I'm afraid to go back to NYADA. Cassandra's going to go back to tormenting me."

"But for a few days, you're going to be in Lima with me and with other people who love you and support you," Finn said. "You can deal with NYADA when you get back there, but for now, you can be with us."

"Okay," Rachel said. "Finn... maybe I will tell some more people about what happened."

"I think that's a good idea," Finn said. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Rachel said. She hung up the phone and dialed Kurt's number. Her best friend should know the biggest news of her career, even though it was bad news.

"Hi Rachel," the voice on the other end of the phone said. Rachel knew that was NOT Kurt.

"Blaine?" Rachel asked. She had to admit she wasn't surprised Blaine and Kurt were spending time together. Despite everything, Rachel knew Kurt still loved Blaine. But Kurt was with Adam. What was going on?

"We missed you today," Blaine said. "How are things in New York?"

"They're fine," Rachel said. "Can I talk to Kurt?"

"Of course," Blaine said.

"Hey Rachel," Kurt said as he took the phone.

"Kurt, I didn't get it," Rachel said.

"What?!" Kurt shouted. "That's insane! What is wrong with them?"

"I'm not good enough," Rachel said.

"You are good enough!" Kurt said.

"Don't," Rachel sighed.

"I just don't understand," Kurt said. "You've been preparing for this your whole life and they just don't give it to you?"

"There's other talented people who've worked just as hard," Rachel said. "I can't have everything." That was true, but it still hurt.

"The directors are clearly idiots," Kurt said. "Everyone back home was rooting for you..."

Would everyone be disappointed in her if they found out what had happened? Then Rachel remembered who else was there. "You can tell Blaine," Rachel said. "I'm sure he can hear your side of the conversation. Please don't tell anyone else yet though, okay?"

"Okay," Kurt said.

"I'm coming to Lima tomorrow," Rachel said. "I just thought it would be better to be home for a little, to be with everyone."

"Yeah, I'm going to be home for a few days, too," Kurt said. "It's just nice getting to spend time with Blaine again."

"I know you missed him," Rachel said. "I told Finn, but I haven't told anyone else yet."

"I bet Finn will be happy to see you," Kurt said.

"Yeah, I really miss him," Rachel said. She had a feeling just being with Finn and with her friends would make her feel better about what had happened.

"Try to get some sleep, okay?" Kurt asked. "We'll all be here for you tomorrow, but I don't like the thought of you being alone."

"I'll try," Rachel said. She didn't expect to sleep well tonight.

"I have ambien in my room," Kurt said.

Rachel gulped. "Thanks. I'll let you get back to Blaine. I just thought you should know."

"Call me if you need me, okay?" Kurt asked. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Rachel said before hanging up the phone. She knew this would be a long night.

x

"Finn!"

Finn looked up from his textbook he was studying. He'd come home this weekend to get a break from the college campus. He'd done some partying, but then he admitted that wasn't really his thing. At home, things would be quieter and he could get some studying done.

"Hey Kurt," Finn said. "Where's Blaine?"

"Blaine went home for the night," Kurt said. "So Rachel told you?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "I just... I can't believe it."

"Me either," Kurt said. "She's coming back here for a few days."

"I know," Finn said. "I'm picking her up at the airport."

"Does your girlfriend know about that?" Kurt asked.

Finn groaned. "She's not exactly a girlfriend. We've been on a few dates."

"Rachel's going to be upset when she finds out," Kurt said.

"She won't find out!" Finn said. "You can't tell her!" He took out his phone and sent Penny a quick text. "Hey, I'm going to have to cancel our date for tomorrow. One of my friends from high school who went to college out of town is getting in and I'd really like to spend time with her."

"Finn, when you're dating someone, you shouldn't not want people to know," Kurt said. "If you don't want to tell people about you dating Penny, you shouldn't have started dating her in the first place."

Finn knew Kurt had a point. Maybe starting to date wasn't a good idea. He knew his heart wasn't in this. "I'll think about it."

"Good," Kurt said, starting to leave.

"And Kurt," Finn added. "Maybe you should think about whether not being with Adam is a good idea. I saw the way you looked at Blaine when he was performing."

"I'll do that," Kurt said, leaving Finn's room.

x

"We hope you enjoyed your flight. You are now landing in Toledo. Thank you for using Continental Airlines and have a nice day."

Rachel had to admit she was glad that she was back in Ohio. Back here, no matter how stressful things got, there always seemed to be some comfort. It was true that she'd had some bad experiences when she came back last fall, but there were far more good memories here.

Rachel got off the plane and saw Finn waiting in the terminal. She smiled and tapped his shoulder. "Don't I know you?"

"I could say the same thing," Finn said, giving Rachel one of his trademark half smiles. He pulled Rachel in for a hug. "I missed you so much, Rachel."

"I missed you too," Rachel said, hugging Finn close. "It's so nice to be back here."

"What do you say we head home?" Finn asked, picking up Rachel's bag to carry it.

"Sounds good," Rachel said. She wanted to hold Finn's hand as they walked, but she knew that since they weren't together now, she probably shouldn't.

"Did you sleep okay last night?" Finn asked.

"I barely slept," Rachel sighed. "I do feel a little better, being home."

"I thought this wasn't your home anymore," Finn said.

"I said that when I was stressed out," Rachel said. "This will always be my home."

"I'm glad," Finn said. "So, we're going to Nationals in LA."

"I heard," Rachel said. "That's great. I'm so happy for you guys."

"While you're here, maybe you could help out in glee for a few days," Finn suggested. "Maybe that would help you feel better about things."

"I don't know Finn," Rachel said. "What's everyone going to think of me not getting the part?"

"Everyone's just going to be glad to have you back," Finn said. "Come on, Rachel. You're the only graduate who hasn't helped out yet."

"Okay, I'll come with you," Rachel agreed.

Finn smiled. "Great. What do you say we get something to eat before we head back to Lima?"

"I'd love to," Rachel said.

_Chapter 3 preview: Rachel helps out with New Directions with Finn, and they try to bring Ryder back and find someone to fill Brittany's spot. Rachel also finds out that Finn's been dating again..._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 3!_


	3. Chapter 3: The Heart Of Glee

_Thanks for all your reviews on Chapter 2! I really enjoyed reading them! Hope you guys enjoyed Glee last night. I haven't been watching this season because it's too hard to without Finchel, but I watched last night because I knew they'd be dedicating their performance to Finn, and the flashbacks, the drumsticks and the Finchel reference made me bawl! Glee without Cory, Finn and Finchel is just so wrong and there's so many things RIB could have done instead rather than completely disregarding the Finchel fans... uh, maybe I should stop ranting now ;)_

_Anyway, in this chapter, we meet a new character. Well, I reintroduce a character. Some of you may remember her from my story "Senior Year" that I wrote a while back, and she was among the first original characters that I created. I've missed writing her, so I thought I'd bring her into this story! Enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to continue!_

Chapter 3: The Heart Of Glee

"So tell me about the new members of New Directions?" Rachel asked Finn as they drove to McKinley. "It would be nice to know who's who."

"Well, there's Unique, you might remember her from Nationals last year," Finn said. "She reminds me of Mercedes. There's also Kitty, she's on the cheerios and she's snarky, but once you get to know her, she's really cool. Then there's Jake, Puck's half brother. He's an outstanding dancer. He's also dating Marley. She actually wrote one of our songs for Regionals."

"Yeah, her song was good," Rachel said. As they got out of the car, Rachel turned to Finn. "Can we not talk about Funny Girl while we're there?"

"Would you rather I tell the group while you're out of the room or something?" Finn asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said. She'd told her dads last night, and they were sad for her, but they were still proud of her for becoming a finalist.

"Rachel, you made it to the final three, that alone is something to be proud of," Finn said.

As they walked into the school, Rachel looked around. "It's been a while."

"It has," Finn said. "How's it feel to be back?"

"Kind of weird," Rachel admitted.

"So, since we're a little early, I was thinking, how about we go say hi to Mr. Schue, and then we can talk to Ryder?" Finn suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Rachel said. She remembered how she and Finn used to walk down these halls hand in hand, but she couldn't hold his hand right now. Finn knocked on the door of Mr. Schue's office, and Mr. Schue looked up and saw Finn and Rachel.

"Rachel!" Mr. Schue said, coming up to hug Rachel. "It's so great to see you!"

"It's nice to see you too, Mr. Schue," Rachel said.

"So, how are you?" Mr. Schue asked. "Did you hear back from Funny Girl yet?"

Rachel looked at Finn. She didn't want to say it. Maybe Finn could tell Mr. Schue for her. "She didn't get the part," Finn said, putting his arm around Rachel.

"Oh no," Mr. Schue said. "Rachel, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," Rachel said. "It has been a hard few days."

"I bet it has," Mr. Schue said. "There will be other parts you can try out for, Rachel. And I'm sure one day, you will get a part."

"I thought Rachel could use a little break from everything," Finn told Mr. Schue. "So I asked her if maybe she could come home and visit for a few days. Maybe she could help out in glee this week?"

"We'd love to have you, Rachel," Mr. Schue said. "Everyone who was in glee with you misses you. And I'm sure the new members would love to meet you."

"I'd like to meet them too," Rachel said. "Finn told me that you guys could use some more members before Nationals, so he and I were going to try to talk to Ryder, and also look around to find a twelfth member."

"That's great," Mr. Schue said. "We were sorry you didn't come back with Kurt and Santana."

"Well, I'm here now," Rachel said.

"Everyone will be excited to see you," Mr. Schue said. "Are you two going to talk to Ryder now?"

"Yeah, he's in study hall now," Finn said.

"I'll see you at glee practice," Rachel said.

"Oh, I missed hearing you say that!" Mr. Schue said to Rachel. Finn and Rachel walked out of the office and started to go down the hall when Rachel heard a familiar voice. "Rachel!"

Rachel turned and saw Tina running toward her, with Blaine, Sam and Artie following her. She gave Tina a hug. "Hey! I missed you!"

"I missed you too!" Tina said.

"We all did," Blaine said, hugging Rachel.

"I thought I'd come back to visit for a few days," Rachel said as she hugged Sam and Artie.

"You are the only graduate who hasn't been back yet," Sam said.

"So, any word from Funny Girl?" Artie asked.

Rachel sighed. She didn't think anyone would stop asking. "She didn't get it," Finn said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Rachel," Sam said. "We were all cheering for you."

"Yeah, we were sure you would get it," Blaine added.

"It hurts," Rachel said. "That's why I came back for a few days, to get my mind off things."

"Well, we all missed you," Artie said.

"I missed you guys too, so much," Rachel said.

"The four of us were just talking, all four of us applied to schools near New York," Tina said. "So if we go to those schools, we'll get to see you a lot more."

"I'd love that!" Rachel said. She had missed all four of them. It would have been nice if Finn would move to New York too...

"Rachel and I are actually going to talk to Ryder now," Finn said.

"Good," Sam said. "Artie and I apologized for what happened when the power went out, so maybe that helped, too."

"What happened?" Rachel asked.

"I'll explain later," Finn said. He turned back to Sam and Artie. "Thanks guys. I bet he appreciated that."

"Great to see you, Rachel," Blaine said. "We'll see you in glee."

"Yeah, see you then," Rachel said as she and Finn walked down the hall. "What happened with Sam and Artie?"

"Ryder was molested when he was little and when he told the glee club, Sam and Artie said that was cool," Finn said.

"They were probably just uncomfortable and didn't know what to say," Rachel said.

"You're probably right about that," Finn said. They arrived at the study hall classroom, where Rachel recognized Ryder from photos she'd seen and from the wedding. They walked up to his table. "Hey," Finn said.

Ryder looked up. "Hey Finn. Nice to see you."

"You too," Finn said. "This is Rachel. She and I were in glee together."

"I know who that is," Ryder said. "That's Rachel Berry."

"Yup, I'm Rachel Berry," Rachel said. It was nice to know that people knew who she was.

"Mr. Schue talked about you a lot," Ryder said. Rachel noticed he looked sad when he said that.

"How are you doing?" Finn asked. "I know it's been a hard time."

Ryder looked down. "I miss glee, but I'm mad at Unique..."

"I understand," Finn said. "Everyone misses you."

"You don't understand!" Ryder protested.

Then Rachel remembered. "Ryder, Finn does understand. When we were sophomores, Finn's girlfriend got pregnant. It turned out that she wasn't pregnant with Finn's baby though. She'd slept with Finn's best friend behind his back. It was Finn's best friend's baby."

"Yeah," Finn said. "It really hurt. I eventually forgave them, but I didn't think I ever would. You don't have to forgive Unique right away, but if you miss glee, you should consider going back."

"I just don't know why she did it," Ryder said. "I gave her several opportunities to tell me who she really was."

"She was probably afraid," Rachel said. "Lots of society isn't accepting of who Unique is."

"Unique was my friend," Ryder said. "She could have just told me she liked me instead of creating a fake identity."

"Ryder, if you want to talk to Unique, I'd be willing to sit down with you two and talk," Finn told Ryder. Rachel was reminded of what a good person Finn was.

"Thanks," Ryder said. "Finn, I really do miss glee."

"Why don't you at least try coming back?" Finn asked. "You don't have to talk to Unique right away, but you're an important part of the group."

"Maybe I'll rejoin glee today," Ryder said. "Finn, when I'm ready, will you talk to Unique with me?"

"Of course," Finn said. "So, I guess I'll see you today?"

"Yeah," Ryder said. "Nice to meet you, Rachel."

"You too," Rachel said. As she and Finn left, she turned to Finn. "You're a really great leader."

"You think I am?" Finn asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said. "You're really good with them."

"I do like the idea," Finn said. "College has been kind of hard, but I really hope I can get that teaching degree."

"You'll get it," Rachel said. "I know you will." After spending a little more time with Finn, Rachel went to the bathroom before it was time for glee practice and saw a girl cleaning a slushie off herself.

"Hey, are you okay?" Rachel asked the girl.

"I hate these slushies," the girl said.

"I know, I hated them so much when I went here," Rachel said. She got out some paper towels. "Here, let me help you clean up."

"You don't go here anymore?" the girl asked.

"No, I graduated last year," Rachel explained. "I'm Rachel, by the way. I'm just back for a few days to help out with the glee club."

"Oh, I'm a freshman," the girl said. "My name is Kylie. My family actually just moved here from Cincinnati, so it's my first week here. At my old school, no one would get away with throwing slushies on people."

"Slushies are so gross," Rachel said. "Don't they feel horrible?"

"Yeah," Kylie said. "This cheerleader named Bree threw them on me just because I'm the new girl."

"The cheerios weren't very nice when I was here, either," Rachel said. "I didn't actually have any friends until I joined glee club. You should consider joining."

"I don't know," Kylie said. "I'm not a very good singer."

"You don't have to sing publicly if you don't want to," Rachel said. "You could just sing in the chorus. I was in the glee club when I went here, and that was a lot of fun. I really miss my friends in it, so I thought I'd come help out for a few days."

"Well, I could use some friends," Kylie said.

"How about you come to the meeting with me and just check it out?" Rachel suggested. "The people in it are cool, and if you don't want to sing solos on your own, you don't have to."

"Okay," Kylie agreed. As the girls began walking to glee, Kylie turned to Rachel. "You actually do look kind of familiar. Aren't you the girl who sang the big solo when the glee club won Nationals last year?"

Rachel smiled to herself. "Yeah, that was me. It's nice to know people still remember me."

"Yeah, I saw you on TV," Kylie said. "You were really good. So was that boy who sang a lot in the big group number with you."

"Yeah, that's Finn," Rachel said. "He and I were really close friends in high school. He's actually the assistant director of the glee club now, since he goes to college near here. Lots of the other alumni are back this week."

"Yeah, I'll see what it's like," Kylie said.

"That sounds great," Rachel said as the girls walked into the choir room. Rachel turned to Mr. Schue. "Mr. Schue, this is Kylie. She's a freshman."

"I'm a new student here," Kylie said. "Rachel told me that glee club is fun, so I thought I'd come check it out."

"That would be great," Mr. Schue said. "We're always welcoming new members."

Rachel noticed Kylie go sit with some of the other glee kids as Finn came up to Rachel. "You found us a new member?" Finn asked.

"Hopefully," Rachel whispered. "She said she'll think about joining. She just moved here."

"Okay everyone," Mr. Schue said. "Let's start off by welcoming Ryder back to the glee club."

Everyone cheered as Finn and Rachel smiled at each other. Rachel was pretty proud that she and Finn had convinced Ryder to come back and that things might get better between him and Unique.

"And everyone, this is Kylie," Mr. Schue said. "She met up with Rachel and she's considering joining the glee club. So let's all make her feel welcome."

The glee clubbers said hi to Kylie before Mr. Schue announced this week's assignment. "Now, we're in for a very competitive Nationals, so not only is Finn back, Rachel will also be helping us out this week."

"So, this is the famous Rachel Berry?" Kitty asked.

Rachel giggled. "I wouldn't call myself famous."

"You will be one day," Finn said to Rachel.

"Rachel is one of the best singers we've ever had," Mr. Schue said. "And with Nationals coming up, we need all the help we can get."

"The glee club has gotten me to where I am today," Rachel said. She figured she may as well tell them. "I didn't get the part in Funny Girl, but I made it to the final three, and I know that's because of my time here."

"The final three?" Marley asked. "That's amazing."

Rachel smiled. "Thanks."

"And we're very lucky to have both Finn and Rachel with us now," Mr. Schue said. "Finn and Rachel are, without a doubt, the strongest duet pairing this glee club has ever seen. Both their voices individually are amazing, but together, they're unstoppable. They took so many amazing songs and made even better versions of them, and they even wrote a few songs of their own. They were our leaders for three years and they brought out the best in everybody. We're so lucky to have both of them here this week."

The group cheered as Rachel began to feel better. It was nice to know that she had a place to come back to where she knew she was appreciated and loved.

"To prepare for Nationals this week, we're going to take a band and perform some of their songs," Mr. Schue said. "We have an amazing duet pairing here with us, so I'm going to pair you off once we pick a band, and each pairing will perform a duet by that band. Finn and Rachel can also demonstrate a duet for us."

"I'd love that!" Rachel thought out loud. She was always up for a duet with Finn.

"So, what band do you guys want to do?" Finn asked.

"We should do the Jonas Brothers!" Sugar shouted.

"No, we should do MercyMe," Joe shot back.

Rachel thought for a minute. "You guys should do the Beatles. They have a song for just about everything, and after all these years, people still love them. Their music is immortal."

"Yeah, that's a great idea, Rachel," Finn said. "Rachel and I led the group in Hello Goodbye once and that was one of our best group numbers."

The glee club members said they liked the idea and began talking about good songs to do as Finn turned to Rachel. "You still have great ideas."

"Okay, so Finn and Rachel will do a Beatles duet for us tomorrow and then I'll pair you up for the competition," Mr. Schue said.

"Who picks the winner?" Jake asked.

"And what does the winner get?" Ryder asked.

Mr. Schue turned to Finn and Rachel. "Finn, Rachel, would you like to be the judges?"

"Yeah!" Rachel said.

"And the winners can help choose the setlist for Nationals," Mr. Schue said.

The glee club members began talking, and being there felt like old times for Rachel. When the practice was over, Finn and Rachel stayed around to talk to Mr. Schue. "It's good to know Rachel Berry's still Rachel Berry," Mr. Schue said.

"Yeah, I'm glad I came back," Mr. Schue said.

"Mr. Schuester?" Finn, Rachel and Mr. Schue turned and saw Kylie. "I had fun today," Kylie said. "Everyone seems nice, and if it's okay, I'd like to join glee. I don't think I'm ready to sing solos at competitions, but I still want to join."

"Don't worry," Mr. Schue said. "Not everyone has to sing solos."

"Thanks," Kylie said. "And thanks, Rachel, for telling me about glee."

"Glee was the best part of high school for me," Rachel said. "I want other people to get that experience, too."

"Well, thanks again," Kylie said. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."

After Kylie left, Mr. Schue turned back to Finn and Rachel. "I should probably get home to my wife."

"How is it finally being married?" Rachel asked.

"It's great," Mr. Schue said. "We're hoping to start a family soon."

"That would be great!" Rachel said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Schue."

"See you guys tomorrow," Mr. Schue said, leaving the room.

"Aren't you glad you came back?" Finn asked Rachel.

"I am," Rachel said. "It's so nice to be back here, be with you again. You were right. Coming home for a few days was the right thing to do."

"I think so," Finn said. "And look at you. You came up with a band for us to do songs from, you recruited Kylie. You still are the heart of the glee club."

"You are," Rachel told Finn. "You always have been."

"Maybe we both are," Finn said.

"I like that," Rachel said. "So, any songs in mind for our duet?"

"I have a few in mind, yes," Finn said. "I like Here Comes The Sun, and Let It Be is a really good song..."

"Finn, there you are," a voice said. Rachel turned and saw a girl with long curly hair coming in. Rachel didn't recognize her. "Why haven't you been returning my texts and calls the past few days?"

"Who are you?" Rachel asked. Who was this girl? And why was she acting this way around Finn?

"I'm Penny, Finn's girlfriend," the girl said. "And who are YOU?"

Girlfriend? How long had Finn been dating another girl? And why had no one told Rachel? "I'm... I'm Rachel," Rachel managed to say. "I'm Finn's... friend."

Penny gave Rachel a suspicious look. "You were acting like you're more than that."

"We're nothing more than that," Rachel said. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Finn had a girlfriend. She thought he still loved her. She thought that he'd want to get back together. How naive of her. "It's okay, don't worry. I live in New York. We were friends in high school, and I was just visiting. I have to go now anyway."

"Rachel, don't go!" Finn pleaded.

"No Finn, I really do have to go," Rachel said. "It was really nice seeing you." She couldn't handle this. Not on top of everything else. Especially when she was just starting to feel better.

"Rachel, I thought we were going to go bowling tonight," Finn said. "Just like-"

"Why don't you go with Penny instead?" Rachel asked. "I'll see you at Nationals, Finn." She gave Finn a hug and fought back tears as she went to her car.

Not only did the production of her dreams not want her, the boy she loved had replaced her.

Rachel didn't see Finn sadly watching her walk away.

_Chapter 4 preview: Finn tries to talk to Rachel and convince her to stick around a little while longer. Another broken up couple starts to take steps back to each other. Beatles week begins at McKinley - will Rachel still be willing to do the demo duet with Finn?_

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 4!_


	4. Chapter 4: Let It Be

_Hey everyone! As always, thanks for all your reviews. I really enjoyed reading them. As someone asked, yes, these chapters are kind of my version of the Beatles tribute. I love the Beatles (and that's something, seeing as I don't like much music) and I would have loved to have seen Finn and Rachel singing Beatles songs together on Glee. I had a feeling Rachel's solo in Love Love Love would have been a Finchel duet if Finn had been there, so that's what it is here!_

_Hope you guys are looking forward to the 100th episode on Tuesday. Back last year I was hoping the 100th episode would be Finchel's wedding. Glee without Finchel is just wrong, but at least they are doing something for Finn in the 100th._

_Anyway, enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review._

Chapter 4: Let It Be

"What was that about?" Penny asked.

Finn sadly looked at Rachel. "Oh, she's a friend of mine from high school."

"Isn't that the girl you have pictures of in your dorm room?" Penny asked.

"Yeah," Finn said. That was true. He was hating himself right now. Rachel probably thought they were on their way to getting back together, but he was with someone. And he felt worse about hurting Rachel than he did about forgetting that he was with someone.

"Does she like you?" Penny asked.

Finn sighed. "Rachel and I dated in high school. It was pretty serious."

"I thought she said she lived in New York," Penny said.

"She does," Finn said. Now he was feeling even worse.

"So why does she think that she can be with you when you're here and she's there?" Penny asked.

Finn was feeling annoyed. Why had he agreed to date someone he wasn't into? "She didn't say she wants to get back together!"

"She was acting like it!" Penny shot back.

"Penny, I don't want to talk about it!" Finn snapped. He did feel bad. He hadn't snapped at her before.

"Okay, okay," Penny mumbled.

x

Rachel tearfully drove home. She knew she couldn't be mad at Finn. She loved him, but she didn't have any rights to him, just like he didn't have any rights to her. She'd already hurt him when she dated Brody. She herself admitted she was only dating Brody to fill the void in her life. But she didn't know if that was why Finn was dating Penny.

As Rachel pulled to the side of the street, she knew she couldn't drive right now. She was crying too much. Instead, she went into Breadstix. Maybe getting herself a little something would cheer her up. As she arrived at Breadstix and took a seat at the counter, she heard two familiar voices at a nearby table. Rachel wanted to go say hi to Kurt and Blaine, but as she overheard their conversation, she thought maybe they wouldn't want to be interrupted.

"Kurt, I've said it so many times, I feel horrible about what happened, and it will NEVER happen again," Blaine said.

"You've told me that before," Kurt said.

"It feels like it doesn't mean anything to you," Blaine said. "I thought you didn't care about me anymore. I thought that you'd moved on."

"Why did you think that?" Kurt asked. "I love you, Blaine. Even though you hurt me, I still love you."

"You weren't returning my calls and texts, and you hung up on me when I called you at Vogue," Blaine said.

"I am so sorry for that," Kurt said. "Why didn't you tell me that you felt that way?"

"You just seemed so happy," Blaine told Kurt. "Happier than I'd ever seen you before. I guess it kind of hurt that you were so happy without me."

"The one thing that was missing was you," Kurt said.

"I applied to some schools in New York," Blaine said.

"I'd love to have you in New York," Kurt said.

"What's going on with you and that Adam guy?" Blaine asked.

"Well, to be honest, it's not serious," Kurt said. "He's a good friend, and the Apples are always telling us what a great couple we'd be, but I just don't feel the way about him that you're supposed to feel about boyfriends."

"Why do you not feel that way about him?" Blaine asked.

Rachel knew what was coming. This was what Kurt had told her. "Because after everything, I still love you," Kurt said. "I think the reason why it hurt so much is that I love you so much."

"I love you too," Blaine said. "If you love me, then why are you with Adam?"

"I don't know," Kurt said.

"You shouldn't be with someone if you don't know why you're with them," Blaine said. "If you don't feel the way about them, then you shouldn't be with him."

"When I'm with you, he's forgotten," Kurt admitted. As Rachel listened to Kurt and Blaine, she couldn't help but think about herself and Finn. Did Finn still feel that way about her? Was Penny Finn's Brody, his Adam? Then Rachel saw Kurt looking at her. "Rachel!"

"Hey guys," Rachel said. She tried to keep it covered that she'd heard what they were saying.

"You heard us, didn't you?" Kurt asked.

Rachel could never fool Kurt. "Yeah. And I don't know why you two aren't back together."

Blaine looked at Kurt. "See, your best friend approves."

"What about you and Finn?" Kurt asked.

There was no escape. "Finn's with someone."

"Trust me Rachel, it's nothing worth thinking about," Kurt said. "Finn still loves you. He always has."

"Don't give up on him Rachel," Blaine said. "We're going to be back together soon, and so are you and Finn."

"How soon do you two think you'll be back together?" Rachel asked.

Kurt paused for a minute. "When I get back to New York, I'm going to talk to Adam."

Rachel managed to smile. "I'm happy for you two."

"Don't worry," Blaine said. "It's all going to work out for you and Finn."

"I hope," Rachel said. She was happy for Kurt and Blaine, but she did feel bad about herself and Finn. She said goodbye to Kurt and Blaine before heading to her dads' house. Her dads were watching TV downstairs, so she said hi to them and went upstairs to her room.

Shortly after Rachel got home, Rachel heard a knock on her door. "Rachel, someone's here to see you," Hiram said.

Rachel looked up. "Finn? Why aren't you with your girlfriend?"

"Rachel, why did you leave like that?" Finn asked.

"It's not my place," Rachel said. Why had Finn come to her house? It was only making her feel worse.

"Rachel, I missed you so much," Finn said. "I thought you didn't want to be with me."

"I thought YOU didn't want to be with ME," Rachel said. "You're the one who put me on that train to New York and then came to visit me and ran off without saying goodbye."

"And you're the one who started dating Brody and then snuck out of the hotel room when I was asleep!" Finn said.

That was true. "Finn, I only dated Brody because I missed you so much!" Rachel said. "I didn't feel anything for him! He meant nothing to me."

Finn sat down quietly. Rachel wasn't sure if this silence was a good thing or a bad thing, so she decided to speak. "I should really get back to New York." She'd come home to get away from the disappointment back in New York, only to find an even bigger disappointment here.

"Please," Finn begged, taking Rachel's hand. "At least stay and sing a duet with me. I've really missed singing with you, and I'm sure the glee club would love to see a legendary Finchel duet."

Of course Rachel was up for a Finchel duet. She missed singing with him. It was one of the things she missed most about him.

"It's Beatles week," Finn continued. "The Beatles have songs for everything."

Rachel sighed. "What song do you want to do? You have really good knowledge of rock songs."

"I want you to pick one," Finn said.

Rachel thought for a minute. Of course, the Beatles made her think of Finn. They'd led the glee club in Hello Goodbye when they were sophomores, and it was one of her favorite group numbers they'd done. Then a song came to mind. "Yesterday." That song described how she was feeling perfectly.

"I really like that song," Finn said.

"Me too," Rachel said.

Finn gave Rachel a hug. "I'm really sorry about everything that's happened to you this year..."

As much as Rachel knew she shouldn't, she snuggled up to Finn and put her arms around him. "I picked that song because I just miss the old days, you know?"

"I have a feeling that's why you picked it," Finn said.

"I'll sing with you tomorrow, and then I need to get back to New York," Rachel said. "I need to get back to classes."

"Do you think you'll be okay?" Finn asked.

Rachel didn't know what to say. She was dreading going back to school. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Finn said. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Rachel said. She wished Finn could stay longer, but she knew why he couldn't. That was part of the reason why she felt like she had to get back to New York. She gave Finn another hug before he left. Then she logged on to her computer and booked a flight back to New York for the next evening.

x

"Okay, we will begin Beatles week with a duet competition, as I said earlier," Mr. Schue said. "Finn and Rachel will be showing you how a great duet is done, and then I'll announce who's paired with who."

"Rachel and I sang so many duets together, and duets with her are my favorite things to sing," Finn blurted out. He couldn't help himself. "My favorite of our duets was Faithfully, and a close second was a song I wrote called Pretending. I also loved doing Don't Go Breaking My Heart, a mashup of Borderline and Open Your Heart, I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Roots Before Branches, We've Got Tonight, You're The One That I Want, and Last Christmas."

"But today, we're going to show you guys our first ever Beatles duet," Rachel said. "We led Hello Goodbye as a group number, but this is the first duet we've done by them."

Finn smiled to himself, glad that Rachel was sounding like her old self. He handed the score to Brad as he began to play the music.

_Finn: Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away  
Now it looks as though they're here to stay  
Oh, I believe in yesterday  
Rachel: Suddenly, I'm not half the girl I used to be  
There's a shadow hanging over me.  
Oh, yesterday came suddenly  
Why he had to go I don't know he wouldn't say  
Finn: I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday  
Both: Hey-Ye-Ye-Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play  
Now I need a place to hide away  
Oh, I believe in yesterday  
Rachel: Why he had to go I don't know he wouldn't say  
Finn: I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday  
Both: Hey-Ye-Oh-Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play  
Now I need a place to hide away  
Oh, I believe in yesterday  
Uh uh uh uh uh uh_

At the end of the duet, Finn looked at Rachel. He noticed that she had tears in her eyes. How he missed the days when all their troubles seemed so far away. The days when they could be together and happy without Brody or Penny or Jesse or Quinn or Puck or Santana or NYADA or distance getting in the way.

"All right, you guys saw how a great duet is done," Mr. Schue said. "Now, you're going to get your duet pairings for Beatles week, and I came up with some pairings that we haven't heard before. Artie, you'll be singing with Tina. Sam, you're with Marley. Joe, you're with Sugar. Jake, you're with Unique. Ryder, you're with Kitty. Blaine, you're with Kylie."

"I just wanted to say thanks to you guys for letting me visit this week," Rachel said. "It was really nice getting to see those of you who I'm already friends with again and to get to know those of you who I don't really know yet. You guys are going to be amazing at Nationals and I can't wait to see you guys perform and to cheer you on."

That surprised Finn. "You're coming to Nationals?" he asked, thinking out loud.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Rachel said.

Finn smiled to himself. He was glad she'd be there.

x

At the end of Glee practice, Finn followed Rachel to the parking lot. "Hey, do you think your dads would mind if I took you to the airport?" He wanted to spend as much time as possible with her before she went back to New York.

"Would Penny be okay with that?" Rachel asked.

Why was Rachel focusing so much on Penny? "Let's not think about her. I just want to take you to the airport."

"Okay," Rachel said. "Do you think you'll be able to get back to campus in time to get a good night's sleep before class tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I think so," Finn said.

"All right then," Rachel said. "I'll call my dads and tell them you're taking me." She called her dads before they headed to Finn's car. "So, how's college?" Rachel asked as they got in the car.

"It's fine," Finn said. "I'm glad I did it."

"You're going to be a great teacher one day," Rachel told Finn. "Seeing you with them, you're amazing."

It meant a lot to Finn that Rachel still believed in him. "I'm so sorry for what you're going through, Rachel. I wish you could stay longer."

"I could tell Penny didn't feel comfortable with me around," Rachel said. "Plus, I have classes to get back to, and I'm trying to find a job."

"I'm really going to miss you," Finn said. "I've missed you this year."

"I've missed you too," Rachel said. "But we can skype or talk on the phone any time, and we'll see each other at Nationals."

"Yeah," Finn said. "Maybe I could come visit you in New York this summer, too."

"I'd love that," Rachel said.

Finn and Rachel chatted like old times on the way to the airport. Finn wished they would never reach the airport, that they could just stay in the car together. But before he was ready, they pulled up in front of the airport. Rachel looked at Finn as they pulled up by the terminal. "So this is it?"

"Kick some butt in New York," Finn said.

"You kick some butt here," Rachel said.

Finn gave Rachel a hug as he watched her disappear into the terminal. Already he missed her. He wished that she'd just stay here. Or that he could find a way to go to New York. Or - just that there was a way for them to be together. He knew what he wanted out of life, and that was to be with Rachel. So why was he dating another girl?

x

Rachel didn't want to go back to New York.

Not after how she'd been rejected from her dream role. If she hadn't found out that Finn was dating another girl, she might have just wanted to have all her stuff shipped here and transfer to the University of Lima. That way, she could be with Finn and help with the New Directions.

What was happening to her? When she was little, Broadway and performing were her everything. This year had taught her a lot. If Broadway was like NYADA had been so far, was it really what she wanted?

As the plane took off, she just hoped things would be okay when she got back to New York.

x

Finn felt tears coming to his eyes as he watched Rachel leave. He knew she'd been going through a hard time lately, and he had a feeling she would have stayed longer if she hadn't found out about Penny. At least Kurt and Santana would be heading back to New York soon, so he didn't have to worry about her being alone.

Still, he missed her so much. He knew that she was in school in New York and he was at school here, but he wished more than anything that they were still together. He thought about Rachel the whole time he was driving home. When he arrived at his house, Kurt and Blaine were in the living room. "Hey guys," Finn said. "So, do you two want to get back together?" He knew Kurt had a boyfriend in New York, but it seemed like Kurt and Blaine were always together during Kurt's visit.

"We do," Kurt said. "When I get back to New York, I'm going to tell Adam that I don't think this is going to work out."

"I'm happy for you two," Finn said. "Even after everything that happened, I knew you two were meant to be."

"Well, we could say the same thing about you and Rachel," Blaine said.

"I don't think Rachel wants to get back together," Finn admitted.

"She does!" Kurt said. "She's devastated that you're dating another girl."

"It's nothing serious," Finn said. He didn't feel that it was. "So, Blaine, what duet are you doing for Beatles week?" He just wanted to take the focus off himself and Rachel.

"I'm not sure yet, I'm talking with Kylie," Blaine said. "It'll be her first time singing publicly, but she is really talented. We've tried a few songs out privately."

"Rachel has a good sense of talent," Finn said. "She can smell it from a mile away."

"Blaine said you two did a really good duet," Kurt said.

"You know, you two do great duets, too," Finn said. "Why don't you do one in Glee tomorrow before you head back to New York?"

"That would be great!" Blaine said.

"Great," Finn told them before heading upstairs. He was happy for his brother and his friend, but at the same time, he was jealous. He wished he and Rachel were that close to reuniting.

x

"All right guys, before we get started, we have one of our other best duet pairings of all time performing for us today, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson," Finn said in Glee the next day.

"So Blaine sings two numbers?" Jake asked.

"This isn't part of the competition," Blaine said. "This is just something fun Kurt and I wanted to do before I go back to New York."

Kurt looked at Brad. "Hit it!" The music began.

_Kurt: I was alone, I took a ride  
I didn't know what I would find there  
Another road where maybe I  
Could see another kind of mind there  
Blaine: Ooo, then I suddenly see you  
Ooo, did I tell you I need you?  
Every single day of my life  
Kurt: You didn't run, you didn't lie  
You knew I wanted just to hold you  
And had you gone, you knew in time  
We'd meet again for I had told you  
Blaine (and Kurt): (Uh!) You were meant to be near me  
(Uh!) And I want you to hear me  
Kurt and Blaine: Say we'll be together every day  
Got to get you into my life  
Blaine: What can I do, what can I be?  
When I'm with you I want to stay there  
If I'm true I'll never leave  
And if I do I know the way there  
Kurt with Blaine: Uh! Then I suddenly see you  
Uh! Did I tell you I need you?  
Kurt and Blaine: Every single day of my life  
Got to get you into my life  
Blaine: Got to get you into my life  
Kurt: I was alone, I took a ride  
I didn't know what I would find there  
Blaine: Another road where maybe I  
Could see another kind of mind there  
Kurt: And suddenly I see you  
Blaine: Did I tell you I need you?  
Oh!  
Kurt and Blaine: I got to get you into my life_

At the end of the duet, Kurt and Blaine kissed before Kurt ran out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "My flight to New York leaves soon."

"Okay, so now you've seen two of our best duet pairings of all time," Mr. Schue told the group.

Artie raised his hand. "Mr. Schue, Finn, Tina and I have our duet ready."

"Great," Finn said. "Let's hear it."

_Artie: When I find myself in times of trouble  
Mother Mary comes to me  
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be  
Tina: And in my hour of darkness  
She is standing right in front of me  
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be  
Both: Let it be, let it be  
Let it be, let it be  
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be  
Tina: And when the broken hearted people  
Living in the world agree  
Both: There will be an answer, let it be  
Artie: For though they may be parted  
There is still a chance that they will see  
Both: There will be an answer, let it be, hee!  
Let it be, let it be  
Let it be, yeah, let it be  
Whisper words of wisdom  
Let it be, hee!  
Artie: And when the night is cloudy  
There is still a light that shines on me  
Shine until tomorrow  
Let it be  
Tina: I wake up to the sound of music,  
Mother Mary comes to me  
Speaking words of wisdom , let it be, hee!  
Both: Let it be (Tina: Let it be)  
Let it be, yeah, let it be  
Oh, there will be an answer  
Let it be (Artie: Hee!)  
Let it be (Artie: Let it be)  
Let it be (Tina: Yeah, let it be)(Artie: Oh, whoa!)  
There will be an answer  
Let it be, hee (Artie: Let it be, let it be!)  
Let it be, let it be (Artie: Oh!)  
Let it be, yeah, let it be (Artie: Oh, Oh!)  
Whisper words of wisdom  
Let it be, hee!_

"Wow, that was great," Finn said. "Everyone else definitely has their work cut out for them."

He wasn't willing to just let it be when it came to him and Rachel. He was going to fight for her and do whatever it took.

_SONGS (all by The Beatles): Yesterday (performed by Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry), Got To Get You Into My Life (performed by Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel) and Let It Be (performed by Artie Abrams and Tina Cohen-Chang - Kevin and Jenna did it as a duet once and I thought they sounded great, so I thought I'd use it as a duet for them here!)_

_Chapter 5 preview: Beatles week continues. Kurt and Santana return to New York and Rachel returns to NYADA. Finn makes some big choices regarding his current situation._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 5!_


	5. Chapter 5: Lima or New York?

_Hi guys! Thanks so much for all your reviews on Chapter 4. I really enjoyed reading them! This chapter does end on a cliffhanger, but things will soon be how they should for Finchel :) I've already gotten started on the next chapter :) Anyway, thanks for all the support, and please review if you want me to keep going!_

Chapter 5: Lima or New York?

Rachel's phone vibrated. It was Finn - again. When Rachel got off the plane, she noticed it was full of texts from Finn, asking if she was back in New York yet.

She texted him to say that she was back in New York but she didn't say anything else. She knew that she shouldn't be mad at him. He wasn't her property. He was free to date whoever he wanted. She knew she couldn't expect him to wait around for her forever. But she knew she wasn't going to date anyone else until she could date Finn again, and once they were back together, they'd be together for good.

Rachel opened the phone and looked at Finn's text. "It was really nice seeing you. I've missed you. Let me know next time you're in Lima."

Rachel looked at the phone. "Yeah, I'll let you know," she texted back.

Kurt and Santana would be getting home tomorrow, and the next day she'd be going back to NYADA. Going back to school was going to be tough. She was sure that everyone knew by now and that Cassandra July, Brody and those two guys who seemed to always be gossiping were going to make her feel bad about it.

Rachel got out some DVDs to watch and distract herself with and popped herself some popcorn. At least she could enjoy tonight.

x

"You wanted to see me?" Penny asked Finn, coming up to the table at the University of Lima library Finn was sitting at.

"Yeah," Finn said. Seeing Rachel again had reminded him that dating Penny wasn't what he should be doing right now. Rachel still had his heart, and he knew it.

"What's up?" Penny asked.

"I don't think this is going to work," Finn said.

"Because of that Rachel girl, right?" Penny asked. "You're still into her, aren't you?"

Finn didn't know what to say. Yes, that was why he knew this wasn't going to work out, but no girl liked to hear that a boy she liked was more interested in another girl. "Rachel and I had something really special in high school," Finn said. "I could see myself spending my whole life with her."

Penny looked annoyed. "Then why did you break up with her? Why are you still in love with a girl who lives in another state? She's not part of your life right now for a reason!"

"Penny, please don't," Finn said. He was going to do everything he could to fight to get Rachel back.

"Why did you even say yes when I asked you out if you like her?" Penny asked.

"I wanted to give dating someone else a try," Finn said. He didn't know what else to say. That was sort of true. And it was dating someone else that confirmed to him that he didn't want to be with anyone but Rachel.

"Okay then," Penny said. "Well, for what it's worth, I liked you." She walked away as Finn began thinking a little more. He'd been enjoying his time at University of Lima, but he did have his problems with parts of it. Lots of people here weren't very committed to school, and there was a bit too much partying for his taste. He'd quit the fraternity because he thought it was getting in the way of things. Maybe another school would be better for him.

Finn logged on to his laptop and began looking at some colleges to apply to. Kurt and Santana had left to go back to New York this morning, so he didn't have to worry about Rachel, but maybe, just maybe, he and Rachel could work something out.

x

"Rachel, we're home now," Kurt called out the next day.

"Hey," Rachel said.

"So, how are you holding up?" Kurt asked.

Rachel looked at her friends. "As well as someone who found out that she got rejected from her dream role and found out the boy she loves is dating someone else can be."

"I can't believe that girl Finn's with," Santana said. "I only met her briefly, but she seemed just so... stupid and so weird."

Rachel giggled, but she still felt bad. "Santana, you shouldn't talk that way about her. Any girl Finn dates has to be a good girl."

"We all know you and Finn should be together," Kurt said.

"I can't innerfere with his life," Rachel said. She'd done that before when he was with Quinn and that hadn't gone over very well.

"You don't have to pretend you're okay, you know," Santana said.

"I thought going home would make me feel better about what happened," Rachel said. "I just feel worse now."

"Look, there's going to be other shows to try out for," Santana said. "You never know, the girl they gave the part to might quit."

"And things aren't going to last with Finn and Penny," Kurt said.

"I just wish I didn't have to go to NYADA tomorrow," Rachel said. "Cassandra's going to probably be back to her old ways, Brody's going to be a jerk and the sycophants are probably going to be more intolerable than ever."

"I'll be there," Kurt said.

"And you can call me if you need me to go Lima Heights on them," Santana said.

"I'm just so glad you two are home," Rachel said, hugging Kurt and Santana.

x

Finn had spent the morning looking around the internet for colleges in New York to apply to and had booked a bus ticket to New York to visit them this weekend. He decided not to tell Rachel, though. Maybe that would be a nice surprise for her. He wouldn't tell her that he'd broken up with Penny until he got to New York either, though he did have a feeling that Penny was the reason why she hadn't been answering his texts. When he got to glee club, watching the duets made him think of the duets he and Rachel sang together. Right now, Sam and Marley were performing their duet, and Finn couldn't help but take the title of the song they'd chosen to heart. Then again, in glee, songs relevant to the situation did tend to be chosen a lot.

_Sam: Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner  
But he knew it couldn't last  
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona  
For some California grass  
Sam and Marley: Get back, get back  
Get back to where you once belonged  
Get back, get back  
Get back to where you once belonged  
Get back Jojo (Marley: Uh uh uh uhhh yeah) (Sam: Go home)  
Get back, get back  
Back to where you once belonged  
Get back, get back  
Back to where you once belonged  
Oh, get back Jo  
Marley: Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh  
Yeah, get back Jo! Yeah, oh oh oh oh  
Sam: Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman  
But she was another man  
All the girls around her say she's got it coming  
But she gets it while she can  
Sam and Marley: Get back, get back  
Get back to where you once belonged  
Get back, get back  
Get back to where you once belonged  
Get back Loretta (Marley: Uh uh uh uhhh, back to where you once belonged)  
Sam: Oh get back  
Marley: Oh get back  
Sam: Yeah get back  
Marley: Yeah get back  
Sam and Marley: Get back to where you once belonged  
Sam: Yeah get back  
Marley: Yeah get back  
Sam and Marley: Get back, get back to where you once belonged_

"That was really good!" Finn said at the end of the song. "What made you two pick that song?"

"Well, we want the glee club to get back the energy and spark we had to win Nationals last year," Sam said.

And Finn wanted to get back Rachel. "We want to get back the Nationals trophy!" Marley added.

"Well, great job, you two!" Mr. Schue said. "How about our other captain and our newest member go next?"

"Well, this is the first time anyone other than Blaine will hear me sing," Kylie said.

"You sounded great when we practiced, don't worry," Blaine said.

Finn was reminded of being afraid to sing at his first few glee practices. When Blaine and Kylie performed, this song was also meaningful to him.

_Blaine: Here comes the sun, here comes the sun  
And I say it's all right  
Kylie: Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter  
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here  
Blaine and Kylie: Here comes the sun, here comes the sun  
And I say it's all right  
Blaine: Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces  
Kylie: Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here  
Blaine and Kylie: Here comes the sun, here comes the sun  
And I say it's all right  
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes  
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes  
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes  
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes  
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes  
Blaine: Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting  
Kylie: Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear  
Blaine and Kylie: Here comes the sun, here comes the sun  
And I say it's all right  
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun  
It's all right, it's all right_

"For a first timer, you sounded really good," Finn said. He did feel that the sun was coming for him. He just hoped it would be coming for Rachel soon as well, too.

"Thanks," Kylie said.

"Rachel knew how to find talent," Mr. Schue said.

At the end of glee practice, Finn went up to Mr. Schue. "Mr. Schue, can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can," Mr. Schue said. "What's up?"

"I'm thinking of transferring to a college in New York in the fall," Finn said.

"We'd miss you if you went to New York, but I understand," Mr. Schue said. "You miss her, don't you?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "I wanted to go to New York. I loved it when we went there for Nationals, and I've heard good things about it from Kurt. I applied to some schools there, and I'm thinking of going this weekend to see what they're like. If I don't like them, I can always just stay at University of Lima."

"You always can," Mr. Schue said. "Finn, I think you're ready for New York though. The glee club will miss you if you leave, but we understand. You've grown to be a capable young man, a leader. You're going to be a great teacher."

"I'll miss you too Mr. Schue," Finn said. "And the glee club. But I will be here to finish up the semester."

"That's right," Mr. Schue said. "Finn, you're one of a kind. Not just your talent, but you have such a special way of connecting with people."

Finn smiled. "Thanks."

x

"Oh, look, it's the Funny Girl reject!"

Rachel turned as she and Kurt were walking down the hallway and saw Bernard and Scott - or as she thought of them, the sycophants - walking toward her.

"Oh look, it's the sycophants!" Kurt said.

"Guess you weren't good enough for them," Scott said. "Maybe they want someone who actually cooperates in class."

"Or respects the teacher," Bernard added.

"Stop it," Kurt said. Rachel was glad Kurt was talking, because she began to get worried. Had Cassandra July told the directors about her arguments with her in class?

"But you're so talented, Kurt," Scott said. "Maybe you should try out."

"You two are really talented too, at being unpleasant," Kurt said before dragging Rachel away.

"I want to leave NYADA," Rachel said.

"No you don't," Kurt said.

"Maybe I'm not meant for a Broadway career," Rachel said.

"It was one audition, Rachel," Kurt said.

"Yeah, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life with people like them," Rachel said.

"They'll find something else to be annoying about soon," Kurt said.

Rachel felt her phone vibrate. "Great, now I've got to get to class."

"You'll be okay," Kurt said, giving Rachel a hug. Rachel walked into her acting class. Luckily, no one said anything to her, though a few people were talking amongst themselves and looking at her.

x

Luckily for Rachel, Cassandra July was out the rest of the week, so she didn't have to deal with Cassandra tormenting her about her reaction. Being at home with Kurt and Santana did help her feel better about everything, though she knew that once the press really started talking about Funny Girl, she'd probably feel bad all over again.

The weekend had arrived, and not soon enough. Rachel knew that next week, Cassandra would probably be back and have some things to say to her about the failed audition, but for now, she just wanted to enjoy the weekend. Right now, she, Kurt and Santana were at work at the spotlight diner, and luckily for Rachel, no one linked to Funny Girl was there now.

"We probably should do a performance," Kurt said to Santana and Rachel.

"I don't know," Rachel said.

"Come on, Rachel, you and Finn sounded great with your song for Beatles week," Kurt said.

Finn. Now Rachel was thinking about him again. "Okay, since it's Beatles week, how about we do a Beatles song?" She tried to take her mind off things.

"Yeah," Santana said. She called out to the diner guests and turned on the jukebox.

_Rachel: It's been a hard day's night  
And I've been working like a dog  
It's been a hard day's night  
I should be sleeping like a log  
Kurt: But when I get home to you  
I find the things that you do  
Will make me feel all right  
Santana: You know I work all day  
To get you money to buy you things  
And it's worth it just to hear you say  
You're gonna give me everything  
Kurt: So why on earth should I moan?  
'Cause when I get you alone  
You know I feel okay  
Rachel: When I'm home  
Everything seems to be right  
When I'm home  
Feeling you holding me tight  
Tight, yeah  
Rachel, Kurt and Santana: It's been a hard day's night  
And I've been working like a dog  
It's been a hard day's night  
I should be sleeping like a log  
But when I get home to you  
I find the things that you do  
Will make me feel all right, ooww!  
Santana: So why on earth should I moan?  
'Cause when I get you alone  
You know I feel okay  
Kurt: When I'm home  
Everything seems to be right  
When I'm home  
Feeling you holding me tight  
Tight, yeah!  
Rachel, Kurt and Santana: It's been a hard day's night  
And I've been working like a dog  
It's been a hard day's night  
I should be sleeping like a log  
But when I get home to you  
I find the things that you do  
Will make me feel all right  
Rachel: You know I feel all right  
You know I feel all right_

Rachel had to admit, it did feel good to be performing, not for class, not for an audition, just for fun, like in high school. As the guests at the diner applauded, Rachel felt a tap on her shoulder. She gasped when she saw who was there. How had he found out that she worked here? "Finn?" Rachel managed to say.

_SONGS (all by The Beatles): Get Back (performed by Sam Evans and Marley Rose), Here Comes The Sun (performed by Blaine Anderson and Kylie Nichols) and A Hard Day's Night (performed by Rachel Berry, Kurt Hummel and Santana Lopez)_

_Chapter 6 preview: While in New York, Rachel goes along with Finn to visit some of the colleges he wants to visit. Rachel has her first run-in with someone who gave her a hard time at NYADA since her audition. Klaine make more progress back toward each other, and two other New Directions alumni find themselves rediscovering their feelings for each other. _

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 6!_


	6. Chapter 6: Back Together

_Hey guys! Thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate them. Hope you enjoyed the second half of the 100th glee episode. It definitely was sad, both to see the glee club end (who knew I was more than just a Finchel fan?) and it was definitely missing Finchel. I will tell you guys that Glee club won't end in this version of Season 5! Hope you enjoy this chapter (even though I did change it slightly!) and review if you want me to keep going!_

Chapter 6: Back Together

"Hi," Finn said.

"Hi," Rachel said. What was Finn doing here?

"I thought I might find you here," Finn said.

"Well, you found me," Rachel said, smiling at Finn. "Does Penny know you're here?"

"She doesn't need to know," Finn said. "I ended it. There wasn't much it to end though."

Rachel tried to hide how happy she was. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," Finn said. "She was nice, but I never really felt the way you were supposed to feel about a girlfriend with her."

"What are you doing here, Frankenteen?" Santana asked as she and Kurt came over.

"I came here to look at schools," Finn said.

What? But Finn as at school in Lima. "That's amazing!" Kurt said. "I'd love it if you came here."

"Could you tell our supervisor I'm going to take my break now?" Rachel asked. Right now, she just wanted to talk to Finn.

"Yeah, of course," Kurt said.

"Want to go sit down?" Rachel asked Finn.

"Yeah," Finn said as they went to an empty table. "So, what makes you want to look at schools here?"

"I don't think University of Lima is exactly what would be right for me right now," Finn said.

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked. "I thought you were having fun."

"The partying wasn't really my thing," Finn said. "I mean, it was fun at first, but then I realized that's not what I should be doing with my life. I'm thinking of finishing up this semester there and then transferring to a school here in New York in the fall."

Rachel would love to have Finn in New York. "That would be amazing."

"And Blaine and Sam are coming to New York in the fall, so I was thinking I might get an apartment with them," Finn said.

Rachel was a little disappointed. She was hoping Finn would live in their apartment, but she understood why he might not be comfortable with that. "Finn, you shouldn't do this for me. I'm just an ex-girlfriend."

"I've always wanted to go to school in a cool place like New York," Finn said. Then he gave Rachel one of his adorable half smiles. "Just an ex-girlfriend?"

Of course Rachel thought Finn was more than just an ex-boyfriend. "Why do you think I left Lima? It hurt so much to see you with another girl. I still love you. I always will love you."

"I love you too," Finn said. "I think that's why it didn't work out with Penny. I've always loved you."

Rachel reached across the table and took Finn's hand. "So, what schools in New York are you looking at?"

"NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Brooklyn College, Manhattan College and I'm trying again at Pace," Finn said. "I filled out my applications before I left, and I'm just going to visit the campuses while I'm here."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get into all of them," Rachel said. "I know you had low grades our underclass years, but you got all As and Bs junior and senior year and ended up with an overall B plus average."

"Um, I got all As senior year," Finn said with a smirk.

"That is true," Rachel said. "Maybe I could go along with you to visit the schools?"

"I'd love that," Finn said.

"Well, well, if it isn't the not so Funny Girl." Rachel turned and saw Cassandra July. "Part of me thought that you were special, and part of me just thought that you thought you were special and that you were going to be a failure. Guess the second part was right."

Rachel groaned. "Hey!" Finn said. "What is your problem?"

"Excuse me?" Cassandra said. "Who are you? Aren't you that ex-boyfriend of hers who she always chose over the hottest piece of man candy at NYADA?"

Finn looked annoyed. "Yes, I am her ex-boyfriend, and she definitely always chose me over Brody. I'm in college for a teaching degree, and it really surprises me that people like you have jobs."

"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked.

"What type of teacher boosts her own self esteem by trying to best a first year student at the skill she teaches, for one thing?" Finn asked. "And from what I've heard, you also show up to school drunk at times. I also heard that you slept with Brody. Who, even though he's your TA, is still a student. Does Carmen Tibideaux know about either of those things?"

"How is that the business of someone who doesn't even go to NYADA?" Cassandra asked.

"Well, I have a feeling if she found out that you show up to teach drunk and sleep with your students, you might not have a job for much longer," Finn said. "So I suggest you leave Rachel alone, or I might go in with Rachel and my brother to tell Carmen about you."

"I have to go now," Cassandra said.

"That's what I thought," Finn said.

Rachel had to smile. "How did you do that?"

"I got some practice from standing up to Sue Sylvester," Finn said proudly.

"I'm impressed," Rachel said.

Santana came up to Finn and Rachel. "Rachel, your break's over."

Rachel reached into her pocket and handed Finn the key to the apartment. "You can go to the apartment now. I'll see you after your shift."

"Okay, see you then," Finn said, giving Rachel a half smile as he left. When Finn was gone, Rachel went to join Kurt and Santana. "Finn's looking at colleges in New York."

"I guess there's something for reunions in the water," Kurt said. "Blaine and I are going to be back together soon. I just have to talk to Adam."

"We aren't back together," Rachel said.

"Not yet," Santana said.

Rachel tried to take the focus off herself and Finn. "Just be honest with him, Kurt. You don't have to mention Blaine, but you should tell him that you don't feel the way about him that people should feel about their boyfriends."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Kurt said.

Rachel tried to keep Kurt and Santana from bringing up Finn. "Santana, have you heard from Brittany lately?"

"Well... I'm sort of starting to have feelings for someone else," Santana said.

"Who?" Rachel asked.

Then she noticed Santana was looking at one of their co-workers, Dani. Dani was pretty and nice, but Rachel wasn't sure if Dani was a lesbian. "Dani?"

"Yeah," Santana said.

"Well, I'm not into girls, but she's so pretty!" Kurt said.

"I'll try to find out if she likes girls," Santana said.

"So, how's it having Finn back?" Kurt asked.

"Well, I'm glad he's considering coming here," Rachel said. "I think it's a little early to say how things are going."

"He's going to be here in the fall," Kurt said. "Trust me."

"Yeah, he said he might get an apartment with Blaine and Sam," Rachel said, trying to hide her disappointment.

"You want him to move in with us, don't you?" Santana asked.

"Maybe it's for the better he move in with them," Rachel said. "We don't have an extra bedroom. She did have something in mind, but she didn't want to say it out loud.

"He could sleep in your bed, with you," Santana said.

"Santana!" Kurt said. "Maybe we could get a bigger apartment. A three or four bedroom one, so we could all live together."

"You want to live with Blaine, don't you?" Rachel asked.

"Well, yes," Kurt admitted.

"That's what I thought," Rachel teased. For now, she just wanted to wait for her shift to go by quickly.

x

"You got to New York okay?" Puck asked as he and Finn skyped in the New York apartment.

"Yeah," Finn said. "Rachel was happy to see me."

"Of course she was," Puck said. "So, you're visiting the colleges tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "I will miss you if I get in."

"I'll miss you too," Puck said. "The truth is though, I don't know if I'm still going to be there in the fall."

"What do you mean?" Finn asked.

"Well, I haven't told anyone, but over the last few weeks, I've been talking with Quinn a lot," Puck said. "I think I'm beginning to fall in love with her again. And I'm hoping she'll be able to love me back."

"Quinn?" Finn asked. He always had thought Quinn and Puck were at their best when they were together, but he didn't see this coming. At the non-wedding, Quinn and Santana had slept together, and Puck had been dating Kitty for a while.

"Yeah," Puck said. "She Facebooked me a little before Beth's second birthday and asked me if I'd been thinking about her at all. Of course I had, and we've been talking a lot since."

"That's good," Finn said. "I'm happy for you."

"We aren't saying anything yet, but I do think we're heading THAT way," Puck said. "If you know what I mean, you know. And if it lasts over the summer, maybe I'll go to school in New Haven in the fall."

"That would be great," Finn said. "For both of you."

"Well, have fun in the big city this weekend," Puck said.

"Yeah, I will," Finn said. When he got off the skype with Puck, he looked around the apartment. It wasn't bad. Not the type of place he dreamed of living or wanted the girl he loved and his brother to be living, but not bad. He thought Kurt, Rachel and Santana had a good job at dividing the loft up into actual rooms. He figured he'd be sleeping on the couch since there wasn't a spare bedroom. (Rachel, Kurt and Santana's rooms were tiny enough as it was.)

"We're back!" Finn turned and saw Rachel, Kurt and Santana come into the apartment.

"We picked up some real New York pizza for you, Finn," Kurt said.

Finn smiled. "Awesome."

"So, how was your trip here?" Rachel asked.

"It went fine," Finn said. "I'm just glad to be here." He couldn't hold it in now. "I missed you so much, Rachel."

Rachel looked surprised. "I missed you too."

"Hey, Santana and I actually had to go pick some things up," Kurt said. "We'll be back soon." He dragged Santana out of the apartment, leaving Finn and Rachel alone.

"Well, I doubt they really had things to pick up," Rachel said.

"I doubt it as well," Finn said. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing better," Rachel said. "It was really cool how you stood up to Cassandra July. No one at NYADA can do that."

"Well, no one talks that way to you and gets away with it," Finn said.

"You're still so chivalrous," Rachel said.

"I now know that's a good thing," Finn said.

"It's a very good thing!" Rachel said. "Those colleges are going to love you tomorrow."

"I hope they do," Finn said.

"They will," Rachel said. "Trust me. Finn, before you come here, it's like I said, you don't have to do this for me. I'm just an ex-girlfriend."

Finn hated how Rachel was referring to herself as "just an ex-girlfriend." He wanted so badly to be able to call her his girlfriend again. "I told you, I've always wanted to go to school at someplace like New York." He paused. "And as for that second part, we can change that."

Rachel looked surprised. "You want to be together again?"

"Yeah," Finn said. He was surprised she had to ask. "You still love me, right?"

"Of course," Rachel said. "I could never love anyone like I love you."

"I could never love anyone like I love you either," Finn said. "I'm going to be here in the fall most likely, so we won't have anything keeping us apart like we do this year. It would only be a few weeks of being apart, and after Nationals, I could just move here."

"I really want us to be together again," Rachel said. "As horrible as this year was, I think it would have been so much better if I'd had you with me."

"Well, then let's do this," Finn said. "We can get back together and this time, we'll stay together."

"I love you," Rachel said.

"I love you too," Finn said. "I'm not going to let you go again."

"I can't lose you again," Rachel said.

Kurt and Santana came back in. "Okay, we got what we needed," Kurt said.

"What were you guys getting?" Rachel asked.

"Some snacks from the bakery down the street," Santana said. "So, did you two enjoy your alone time?"

"Yes," Finn said. He wanted to tell Kurt and Santana that he and Rachel had gotten back together, but he thought that was up to her.

"Tell them!" Rachel said.

"Tell us what?" Kurt asked.

"Rachel and I are back together," Finn said proudly, putting his arm around Rachel.

"We all saw that coming!" Santana said.

x

"Thanks for doing this with me," Finn said as he and Rachel walked around the Columbia campus. They'd spent the day visiting schools, and this was their last stop for today.

"It's no problem," Rachel said. "This is a nice campus, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Finn said. "They have a football team here, and a good education program."

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked. She noticed Finn was being quiet.

"What if I don't get in?" Finn asked.

"Finn, you're going to get in," Rachel said. "Don't think like that. You had a great last two years of high school academically, you led the football team to the big championship when we were juniors, you led the glee club to a National championship, and you did a great job with the glee club this year. You've got some great letters of reference. You're getting in."

"This is my favorite of the schools we've been to," Finn said. "It's also the hardest to get into. I read online that they have a 7% acceptance rate. They probably won't take someone like me. They'll probably take someone who got all As from the beginning."

"Finn, there's thousands of people in the world like that," Rachel said. "Every school has its students who are always getting 100 percent on every test. But there's only one Finn Hudson."

Finn gave Rachel a half smile. "You're amazing."

"I try to be," Rachel said.

"You really think I'll get in?" Finn asked.

"You will," Rachel said. "You'll get into all of them."

x

"We're back!" Rachel called as she and Finn went back into the apartment.

"Hey," Kurt said. "How were the college visits?"  
"I enjoyed them," Finn said. Rachel was surprised when she saw who was sitting at the kitchen table with Kurt and Santana. "Quinn!"

"Hey!" Quinn said. "Finn, I was surprised to hear that you were here."

"Yeah, just visiting some schools here," Finn said.

"Yeah, she finally got around to using her train pass," Santana said.

"I can see that," Rachel said. "So, how are things at Yale?"

"They're good," Quinn said. "It's a good thing Finn's looking at schools here, because he might not have a roommate in the fall."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"Well, Puck and I have been talking a lot lately, and I think we're falling back in love," Quinn said. "I've been thinking about him a lot this year and missing him, and I'm really hoping in the fall he'll come to New Haven."

"That would be great!" Rachel said. "You remember what I told you about you and Puck."

"Well, while we're talking about relationships, I have some news, too," Kurt said. "I talked to Adam today and I told him that I didn't see things going anywhere."

"Now you just have to get back with Blaine," Rachel said.

"He told me he's coming to New York next weekend, so maybe it'll happen then," Kurt said.

"That's great," Finn said.

"We ordered Chinese for dinner, would you two like some?" Santana asked.

"That sounds great," Rachel said as she and Finn joined Kurt, Santana and Quinn at the kitchen table. Finally, things were starting to look up.

_Chapter 7 preview: Finn returns to Lima to finish out the school year, but he and Rachel make the long distance work as best they can. Kurt and Blaine get back together and Finn hears back from one of the schools in New York. Another couple begins to form._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 7!_


	7. Chapter 7: Officially Admitted

_Thank you for all the reviews of Chapter 6! They mean a lot to me. For this story (since it is my version of Season 5) I am considering exploring some other POVs besides Finn and Rachel's, but the story would still mostly focus on Finchel. It's just something I'm considering, let me know what you think. Anyway, thanks for all your support, enjoy this chapter, review if you want me to continue, and enjoy the first pure New York episode of Glee tomorrow!_

Chapter 7: Officially Admitted

"So, did you have fun in New York with Rachel?" Puck asked Finn as they sat in their dorm.

"Yeah," Finn said. "I missed her so much."

"I know you did," Puck said. "How's she doing, with Funny Girl and all?"

"She's doing better," Finn said.

"That's good," Puck said. "Even when we were at McKinley, we all knew she wanted that part."

"I don't get why they didn't give it to her," Finn said. "She's just so - amazing."

"Maybe they couldn't handle her," Puck laughed.

"Yeah, I bet that was it," Finn agreed as the skype on Puck's computer started ringing. "Who is that?"

Puck looked at his phone. "It's Quinn."

"Then I'd better get back to my homework," Finn said, letting Puck talk to Quinn. As Finn sat down to study, he heard Puck pick up the call. "Hi Quinn."

"Hi Puck," Quinn said. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Puck said in a tone Finn didn't hear very often. "How are you?"

"I visited Rachel, Kurt and Santana in New York and I saw Finn, too," Quinn told Puck. "He probably told you he might be in New York in the fall."

"Yeah, he and Rachel have finally decided to stop playing will they/ won't they," Puck said as Finn thought that he was so glad that phase was behind them.

"What about us?" Quinn asked.

Puck paused. "What about us?"

"I don't want to play will they or won't they either," Quinn blurted out. "I love you. I've been in denial about it, but I've always been thinking about you. I didn't love Finn or Sam. The only reason I didn't really talk to you for a while was because I was worried it would make me miss her more."

"I miss her too," Puck said. "And of course I love you. Remember what I told you the night we hooked up? It wasn't just another hookup for me. I wanted you, but you were with Finn."

"It was for the better," Quinn said. "I want to do this."

"So do I," Puck said.

"I think it was when I started dating another guy at Yale that made me realize how much I missed you and wanted to be with you," Quinn said slowly. "This guy was rich, he was attractive, he was the valedictorian of his class, he was president of a bunch of clubs at Yale and he was the star of the water polo team as a freshman. On paper, he was the perfect guy. But he was just awful. When I told him about Beth, he called me a slut."

Finn could see so many parallels between Quinn and the Yale guy and Rachel and Brody. "He sounds like an ass," Puck said. "No one talks that way to my girl."

"Your girl?" Quinn asked.

"Well, if you want to be," Puck said.

"I want to be," Quinn said.

Finn couldn't help but think of himself and Rachel. Things were finally working out, not just for him and Rachel, but for other couples, too. "Hi Quinn!" Finn called out.

"Finn!" Quinn laughed. "You heard the whole thing?"

"Yeah," Finn said, going up to the computer screen. "I'm really happy for you guys."

"Well, thank you," Quinn said. "It was great to see you this weekend."

"You too," Finn said. "Well, I have to get back to my homework."

"It's okay, I have class soon anyways," Quinn said. "Skype again tonight, Puck?"

"Of course," Puck said. "Bye."

"Bye!" Quinn said before they logged off and Puck turned to Finn. "I'm going on Facebook now to change my relationship status."

"You can't wait to do it, huh?" Finn asked.

"I can't," Puck said.

x

As Rachel bussed a table at the diner, she saw the Funny Girl director, Rupert Campion, and the male co-star, Paolo San Pablo, come in. There was a woman in her 20s with them. Could this possibly be the woman who'd beaten Rachel for the part?

Rachel was just starting to feel better, but seeing them definitely reminded her. To make matters worse, her supervisor came up to her and pointed at their table. "Rachel, could you go see what they'd like?"

Rachel sighed and went up to their table. She tried to act like it was just anyone else. "Welcome to Spotlight Diner, can I get you anything to drink?"

"Hi Rachel," Rupert said.

"Hi," Rachel said, trying to be polite. "How's the production going?"

"This is Marissa Highwater, she's playing Fanny," Pablo said. "We still are casting some of the minor roles, and she doesn't have an understudy yet."

Rachel wasn't sure if she could handle being reminded of her rejection right now. "I know, but I'm pretty busy with school and work." She didn't want her rejection dangled in her face. Why had her supervisor told her to wait on this table?

"Well, I'd like a coffee," Marissa said. Rachel looked at this girl. She was definitely a lot prettier than Rachel was. And obviously, she was a lot more talented.

"Yeah, so would I," Rupert said.

"Me too," Paolo added. Rachel wrote down their orders and went to the counter, hoping she could bribe Kurt or Santana to take over this table. She found Kurt and Santana behind the counter. "The director and stars of Funny Girl are here."

"She's so hot," Santana said to Kurt.

"Um, are you forgetting that Finn and I are back together?" Rachel asked.

"Her," Santana said, motioning toward their coworker Dani, who was taking orders from a customer.

"She is pretty," Kurt said. "Why don't you ask her out?"

"Because I don't know if she likes girls," Santana said.

"I added her on Facebook," Kurt said. "She likes girls."

"Are you sure?" Santana asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Kurt said.

Rachel looked down. She guessed she couldn't blame Kurt and Santana for talking about Dani. They'd already heard a lot about Funny Girl and were probably tired of it. "Then maybe I'll go to the floor and talk to her," Santana said. "Rachel, if you want, I'll take the table the Funny Girl people are at."

"Thanks," Rachel said. When Santana was gone, she turned to Kurt. "The girl they got to play Fanny is prettier than me."

"I find that hard to believe," Kurt said.

"The director told me that they're still looking for understudies and people for minor roles," Rachel said.

"You should at least give it a try," Rachel said.

"I'll think about it," Rachel said.

Santana came back. "Rachel, maybe it's for the better that you don't have to work with that girl. She's a bitch."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"She was so picky about how we make her salad!" Santana said.

"Thanks for doing that table," Rachel said.

"Oh, it's no problem," Rachel said as Dani came to the counter. "Hey, Dani," Rachel said, hoping this would get Santana the courage to talk to her.

"Hi Rachel," Dani said. "Hi Kurt. Hi Santana."

One of the cooks came out with a tray for Rachel to take to a table, so she took it, leaving Santana to talk with Dani and taking the long way so she didn't have to pass the table with the Funny Girl crew. She hoped that Santana would get along with Dani and that maybe something would be there. She knew that breaking up with Brittany had been hard on Santana, especially because Brittany entered another serious relationship so soon after they broke up, and it probably was hard for Santana to see Rachel and Kurt both reunite or be close to reuniting with their significant others after everything that had happened.

"So, you're just working now?" Rachel heard Dani say to Santana as she went back to the counter.

"Yeah," Santana said. "Last semester I was at college at University of Louisville and cheerleading there, but it wasn't really what I wanted to be doing with my life."

"Oh, I see," Dani said. "I go to Brooklyn College. You're from Ohio, you said?"

"Yeah," Santana said. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Arizona," Dani said. "I know that's far away, but it's probably for the better that I'm here. Out there, they aren't very respectful of people like me."

"What do you mean, people like you?" Santana asked.

"I'm a lesbian," Dani said. "My parents caught me making out with another girl in our basement and ever since then, things just fell apart and everyone started treating me differently, so I got a scholarship to a school out here."

"Yeah, I'm a lesbian too," Santana said. "My parents are fine with it, but I haven't even talked to my grandma since I told her."

Kurt came over to Rachel. "Looks like they're bonding."

"Yeah, I think so," Rachel said. "So, how are things with Blaine?"

"We're officially back together!" Kurt said with excitement. "He's coming to New York next weekend to get a feeling of what it's like."

"I can't wait to see him!" Rachel said.

"Me neither," Kurt said. "All three of us will be amazing at NYADA together!"

"We will!" Rachel said.

x

"Something came in the mail for you, Finn," Carole said. Finn was visiting Burt and Carole for dinner for the night, and Carole handed Finn a large envelope from Columbia University. Finn gulped. It seemed a little too soon to hear back. Nervously, he opened the envelope.

"It's from Columbia," Burt said. "I didn't know you were interested in there."

Finn opened the envelope and read the first line of the letter. "Dear Mr. Hudson - Congratulations! We are pleased to invite you to join the Class of 2017..." He looked up and hugged both his mom and his stepdad. "I got in!"

"Finn, you applied to Columbia?" Burt asked.

"Yeah," Finn said. "I just - I didn't think I'd get in!"

"We're so proud of you!" Carole said. "Though we will miss you."

"It'll be empty with both you and Kurt in New York," Burt said.

"I'm sorry," Finn said. "I'll come visit when I can."

"Do you think you'll live with Rachel, Kurt and Santana?" Burt asked.

Finn didn't know. Now that Kurt and Blaine were back together, would Blaine be moving into the apartment too? And what about Sam? He was also going to be in New York in the fall. "I hope so."

"Well, we're very proud of you," Carole said.

"Is it okay if I go skype Rachel and tell her?" Finn asked.

"Of course," Burt said.

Finn went up to Burt and Carole's room and turned on the computer. To his delight, Rachel was online, so he skyped her right away. Rachel picked up almost right away. "Finn!"

"Rachel!" Finn said. He couldn't hold it in any longer. "Rachel, I got into Columbia!"

"I'm so proud of you!" Rachel said.

"Thanks!" Finn said. "Rachel, we're going to be in the same city in a few weeks!"

"You should move in with us!" Rachel said.

"You think I should?" Finn asked.

"YES!" Rachel said.

"Are Kurt and Santana home right now?" Finn asked.

"Kurt's skyping with Blaine, and Santana's hanging out with one of our coworkers," Rachel said. "So it's just you and me. But I'll tell them when I can."

Finn loved how Rachel always was so happy when he succeeded. "Thanks, babe."

"You'll have to tell the New Directions tomorrow!" Rachel said. "They're going to be so happy for you."

"I hope so," Finn said. He thought for a minute. "I will miss working with them."

"I bet you will," Rachel said. "But I'm sure they'll be more than happy to have help from you on our breaks."

"Maybe you could come help out before Nationals, too," Finn suggested.

"I'd love that," Rachel said. "Speaking of helping out, have you and Mr. Schue picked winners of the duets competition yet? I saw the duets on the New Directions YouTube channel, and they were all amazing."

"Not yet," Finn said. "Do you have a preference?"

"Finn, remember when you and I rigged the duets competition our junior year?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Finn said.

"We wanted Sam to win so he'd feel like he was part of the group," Rachel said. "I think you guys should give this to Blaine and Kylie so Kylie can feel more confident and part of the group. She's the only freshman there and she said she's shy with singing in public. Plus she's new to McKinley."

Finn knew Rachel was right, as usual. "That's a really good idea. So, how are things in New York?"

"Well, the Funny Girl director, male lead and the girl they chose over me came to the diner today," Rachel said.

Finn noticed that Rachel looked upset. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it just felt like my rejection was dangling in my face," Rachel said.

"Rach, you're the most talented person in the world," Finn said. "They're too narrow minded to see that."

Rachel gave Finn a small smile. "They're still looking for people to be understudies and fill the smaller roles."

"You should try out for one of those," Finn said. He didn't want Rachel to feel so down.

"I'll think about it," Rachel said. "But I am so proud of you, Finn. I always knew you could do it."

"You've always believed in me, even when no one else did," Finn said.

"And I always will," Rachel said.

x

"Finn, that's amazing!" Mr. Schue said. "Columbia's one of the best schools in the country."

"Thanks," Finn said.

"I'm going to be honest though, the New Directions will miss you," Mr. Schue said.

"I'll miss you guys, too," Finn said. "It was helping out here that really helped me figure out that teaching is what I want to do with my life."

"And you'll be a great teacher, Finn," Mr. Schue said. "So, we're planning to announce who won today."

"Well, I loved Artie and Tina's duet, and I loved Sam and Marley's too," Finn said. "But I do think Blaine and Kylie's was the best. And I think winning would help Kylie feel like she was part of the group and feel better about her singing."

"You have a point, Finn," Mr. Schue said. "Everyone sounded great, but I do think those three you mentioned were the three best, and that Blaine and Kylie were the overall best."

The bell rang, and within a few minutes, the glee club members had arrived. "So, who won the duets competition?" Tina asked almost right away.

"Well, Finn and I talked, and we've decided that the winners of the competition are Blaine and Kylie," Mr. Schue said.

"So congratulations, you two," Finn said. "You'll be choosing the setlist for Nationals!"

"Are you serious?" Kylie asked. "That was the first time I ever sang publicly."

"Yeah, we're serious," Finn said. "Rachel knows how to spot talent."

"And speaking of good news - Finn has some as well," Mr. Schue said, looking at Finn.

Finn smiled as he looked at the New Directions. "I got into Columbia!"

The New Directions started cheering as Finn smiled at them. "I couldn't have done this without all of you. You guys have helped me grow as a leader this past year and helped me realize that teaching was my passion. So I wanted to thank all of you for helping me get to this point."

_Chapter 8 preview: Rachel considers auditioning to be an understudy or for a smaller part. The New Directions members of the Class of 2013 hear back from colleges and some visitors go to New York. More of Finchel as well!_

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 8!_


	8. Chapter 8: Try Again

_Thank you for all the reviews of Chapter 7! I appreciate them so much. I know there isn't much Finchel in this chapter, but there will be some in the next chapter, and I have arcs planned for both of them in the upcoming chapters! Again, thanks so much for all the support. In case any of you are interested, a new chapter of my other fic should be up soon, too!_

Chapter 8: Try Again

Final exams were over, and Finn was happy with his grades. Right now, he was just trying to enjoy his last few weeks in Lima before he went to New York. He was nervous about moving, he wasn't going to lie, but he'd loved Columbia when he visited, and it would be nice to be with Rachel and Kurt again.

Right now, Finn was sitting in the choir room, waiting for Mr. Schue to arrive, when Blaine came in. "Hey!" Finn said. "Have you and Kylie talked at all about the setlist for Nationals?"

"We have," Blaine said. "We were planning to tell the rest of the glee club at practice today, but I wanted to tell you alone first."

"I'm listening," Finn said.

"We wanted to do some classic rock, your favorite genre, as a thank you for everything you did for us this year," Blaine said. "You really helped the glee club a lot. We were thinking of More Than A Feeling by Boston as the duet, and then America by Neil Diamond and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2 as the group numbers."

Finn felt so honored. "You guys want to do Nationals for me?"

"Yeah," Blaine said. "Finn, you've been such a great leader this year."

"So, are you and Kylie going to do the duet?" Finn asked.

"I tried to talk her into it, but she's afraid to sing in front of a full house of people," Blaine said. "So I'll see if Tina wants to do it with me."

"That would be great," Finn said. "So, are you excited for New York?"

"Of course," Blaine said. "I got into NYADA."

"Have you told Kurt yet?" Finn asked. "He'll be so happy to hear that."

"He was the first person I told," Blaine said. "He's so excited."

"It'll be like old times," Finn said.

"Hey Finn, I got here a little early because I wanted to talk to you about something," Blaine said. "Something about Kurt. "And I think you're the only one who will really understand this."

Finn nodded. "What's going on?"

Blaine reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "Right before Regionals, I was looking at engagement rings for Kurt."

Finn was right - he knew this better than anyone. "I remember when I was looking at rings for Rachel. I love Rachel, and I knew I wanted to marry her. I still want to marry her. But now that I look back, I don't think it was the right time to get engaged. We were so young, and I was so scared of losing her. I did end up losing her, but I found her again. I know this time it's for good, and I know that one day we will be able to get married."

"So you're saying you think I should wait?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah," Finn said. "Blaine, Kurt loves you. He missed you so much when you were broken up. I can't see Kurt marrying anyone else but you, and one day I do hope you give him that ring. But I do think this might be too much too soon. You just got back together."

"I guess you're right," Blaine admitted. "We should probably see how things go in New York first."

"Yeah, you should," Finn said. "In the long run, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"I don't think you and Rachel have anything to worry about either," Blaine said. "Speaking of New York, next weekend I'm going there for a weekend with Sam, Artie and Tina. Maybe we could look for apartments while we're there?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," Finn said. He wanted an apartment with Rachel, but maybe that would be too much too soon as well. The other members of the glee club began coming in, and then Mr. Schue arrived.

"So, today, we're going to be hearing our Nationals setlist, if I'm remembering correctly," Mr. Schue said.

"Yup!" Kylie said with excitement. "Blaine and I came up with some fun songs. For the duet, we picked More Than A Feeling by Boston."

"And since Kylie doesn't want to sing in front of so many people, I was wondering if Tina would like to sing the duet with me," Blaine said.

"I'd love to!" Tina said.

"Thanks, that would just be too many people for me," Kylie said. "We picked out America by Neil Diamond for the first group number. We thought Sam and Artie would be good at leading it and then give small solo parts to Kitty, Marley, Jake and Ryder."

"Then for the last group number, we thought I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2 would be good," Blaine said. "And we like the idea of that number highlighting the four seniors."

Everyone seemed to like the song choices. "And we're dedicating our Nationals performance to Finn," Blaine said. "He's done so many great things for the glee club this year."

"Yeah, we'll really miss you next year, man," Ryder said to Finn.

"I'll miss you guys, too," Finn said. "Blaine, you should tell the glee club your big news."

"I got into NYADA!" Blaine announced as the glee club cheered.

"So we'll have to look around campus there when we go to New York this weekend," Tina said. "And speaking of New York - I got into NYU!"

"And I got into Pace," Sam added.

Again, the glee club cheered. "You guys already know about me and Brooklyn Film Academy," Artie said. "So all four of us will be in New York, plus Finn."

"And don't forget about Rachel, Kurt and Santana," Tina said.

"Wow, so much great news," Mr. Schue said. "And now that we have our Nationals set list, we should start practicing."

x

"I don't know, do you think I should do it?" Rachel asked. She was sitting in her apartment with Kurt and Santana, debating with herself yet again about whether not to try out to be an understudy for Funny Girl.

"Yeah, you should do it," Santana said. "I saw the girl who got the part at the diner. She's pretty, but she doesn't have the Fanny Brice look."

"I did some research on her," Rachel said. "Last year she was in Les Miserables. She had a small part, but she's incredible."

"So are you, Rachel," Kurt said.

"Yeah, I have a NYADA winter showcase, a high school production, a high school Nationals, two high school Regionals and three high school Sectionals on my resume, and some local competitions," Rachel said. That wasn't a bad resume when you thought about it, but it wasn't compared to what the star of Funny Girl had. She'd been in several on and off Broadway plays. "And according to some Broadway blogs, the original understudy already quit because she's so difficult to work with."

"And you aren't difficult to work with?" Kurt teased.

Rachel giggled. "I guess I can be."

"I'll call them up and see if they'll let me audition," Rachel said. She went to her room and turned on her computer to look up Rupert Campion's phone number. Before she had the chance though, her skype began going off, and she saw that it was Finn. She smiled as she answered the call. "Hey!"

"Hey!" Finn said. "Guess what?"

"Tell me," Rachel said.

"The New Directions are dedicating their performance at Nationals to me, as a dedication to thank me for all my help this year," Finn said, looking so proud.

Rachel felt so proud of Finn. "That's amazing!"

"I'm excited to see you at Nationals," Finn said.

"Me too," Rachel said. "Well, you'll see me for a couple days before when I come to help out."

"Yeah," Finn said. "Mr. Schue and I were thinking we'd have the alumni mentor the new members, like what I did for Sectionals."

"I'd like that," Rachel said. "I haven't really gotten to know very many of the new members yet."

"Yeah, the four seniors are coming to New York this weekend," Finn said. "I wish I could come."

"So do I," Rachel said. "I'm glad we're back together, but it still feels like something's missing."

"Yeah, that's how I feel," Finn said.

Rachel figured now would be the time to tell Finn. "Finn, I think I'm going to try out for the understudy or for a smaller role in the play."

"You should," Finn said. "Everyone has to start somewhere. You'll work your way up to a starring role, but it wouldn't be bad to start off with a smaller one."

"I guess you're right," Rachel said. "That could give me a better idea of how the business works."

"Yeah," Finn said. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," Rachel said. "I can't wait for you to move to New York."

"So, I think you should go for it," Finn said, giving Rachel a half smile.

"I'll give it a try," Rachel said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Finn said.

Talking with her friends and with Finn had helped Rachel realize that trying out for a smaller part would be the right thing to do. She called Rupert Campion and left a message, asking when she could come try out to be an ensemble or understudy.

x

"Rachel! Get up!"

Rachel rolled over in her bed and saw Kurt. "Guess who's here?"

"Your boyfriend?" Rachel said.

"Yup!" Kurt said. "And Sam, Artie and Tina!"

"I knew it," Rachel said. "I'll be right there." She got out of bed, got dressed and went to the kitchen, where Kurt was sitting on Blaine's lap and Santana, Artie, Sam and Tina were sitting around the table.

"Rachel!" Tina exclaimed, jumping up to hug Rachel.

"Hey!" Rachel said. "It's so good to see you guys."

"You too, Rachel," Artie said. "How are you doing?"

"Well, a few days ago I called the Funny Girl director to see if I could audition to be an understudy," Rachel said. "I still haven't heard back yet." Was Rupert not interested in her?

"I bet you'll hear back," Blaine said.

"So, what did you guys think of your colleges?" Rachel asked.

"We'll be visiting later today," Tina said. "And looking for apartments."

"You guys should consider getting an apartment in our building," Santana said. "If you just use partisans, you can create several extra rooms."

"Blaine might move in here eventually," Kurt said.

"What about Finn?" Tina asked Rachel.

"I think he wants an apartment with you guys," Rachel said. She would like for Finn to live in their apartment with them, but maybe that should be up to him.

"Well, it all depends if we can get out of dorms at our schools," Artie said. "Other than NYADA, all our schools want first year students to live on campus."

"We'll help you guys get out of the dorms," Kurt said. "So, are you excited for your senior Nationals? Finn told me your setlist."

"Yeah," Sam said. "You and the new girl picked a pretty good one, Blaine."

"And the three of us will be there cheering you guys on," Santana said.

"Santana, Brittany said she's coming to Nationals, too," Tina said.

"Oh, Santana's moved on," Kurt said.

"Hummel!" Santana shouted.

"Oh, who is she?" Tina asked.

"Her name is Dani, she works at the diner with us," Santana said. She got out her phone and showed them Dani's picture.

"She's hot!" Sam said.

"We think Santana should ask her out!" Rachel said. Then her phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID. It was Rupert Campion. Rachel went to her room and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hi Rachel, this is Rupert Campion from Funny Girl."

"Hi," Rachel said.

"I got your message," Rupert said. "Maybe on Monday could you come audition for the understudy role?"

It wasn't the role she'd wanted originally wanted, but yes, she wanted to be part of this production. "Yeah, that would be great."

"Does noon sound okay to you?" Rupert asked.

"Yeah, noon works for me," Rachel said. "I'll see you then." She went back to join her friends in the kitchen. "They want me to try out to be the understudy!"

"And eventually you're going to get to be Fanny," Kurt said.

"We don't even know if I'll be the understudy yet," Rachel said. Still, it felt good that they were considering her for something.

"And if you ever get to perform, we'll all be here, so we'll all be able to get to see you," Blaine said.

Rachel had to admit, she liked her friends' enthusiasm. It felt good to be around people who supported her and made her feel good about herself, unlike at NYADA, where she constantly felt like she was being put down. She got out her phone and sent a quick text to Finn. "Finn, they want me to try out to be the understudy!"

Finn texted Rachel back. "That's amazing! See, I told you they would."

"Telling Finnocence?" Santana asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said.

"Well, he should know," Kurt said.

Rachel turned to the visitors. "Are you guys ready to have some fun in New York?"

"Yeah!" Sam said.

After breakfast, Rachel sent a text to someone else who'd been supportive of her in her tryouts for Funny Girl - Shelby. Shelby had been the one to give her the initial audition advice for the audition that originally led her to a callback. She'd told Shelby about not getting the part, but she was sure Shelby would be glad to hear she had a chance to audition for the understudy.

x

The next day, Rachel and Shelby were meeting for lunch. Santana was working at the diner, Kurt and Blaine were on a lunch date of their own and Artie, Sam and Tina were visiting the dorms at their respective schools, so Rachel had some free time to get together with Shelby.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me for lunch," Rachel said as she and Shelby sat down. "I'm actually going to be trying out to be the understudy for Fanny Brice in Funny Girl."

"You know I always love to see you," Shelby said. "I was so sorry to hear you didn't get the part, but maybe you'll get the part of the understudy."

"I hope so," Rachel said. "If the girl playing Fanny can't perform at any time, I'll get to perform. Even if I just got to do one show, that would be nice."

"No matter what happens, Rachel, don't let your quest for fame take over your life," Shelby said. "That's what happened to me for the longest time."

"But everything worked out," Rachel said. "You have Beth, and you and I have reconnected."

Shelby looked upset. "Well, not everything."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

Shelby leaned across the table. "I have another daughter. A couple years after you were born, I got pregnant after a one-night stand. I couldn't get in contact with the father after I got pregnant and I didn't think I could be both a single mother AND a Broadway star, so I put her up for adoption. It's like you and me were for the longest time. I've always been wondering where she was or what she looks like. I don't even know her name. Her adoptive parents have my information in case they ever need me, but they haven't contacted me."

So Rachel had a sister? A sister who was out there somewhere? "Wow," Rachel managed to say. "Well, where was she born? How old is she now?"

"She was born in Ohio," Shelby said. "Like you. That's where her adoptive parents live. Or at least, where they lived when I had her."

Rachel didn't know what to say. There were so many secrets about her past. What was her sister's name? Was she still in Ohio? "Well, I hope I get to be an understudy or get a smaller role," Rachel said. "Thanks, Shelby."

"No problem," Shelby said. "We should get together again soon."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Rachel said. She walked back to her apartment, thinking about what Shelby had told her. Somewhere, there was a girl walking around who was her sister, a girl who likely didn't even know she existed.

___Chapter 9 preview: Rachel tries out for Funny Girl to be the understudy while dealing with the aftermath of finding out that she has a sister out there somewhere and not knowing who or where she is. The New Directions Class of 2012 also return to Lima to help prepare for Nationals!_

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 9!_


	9. Chapter 9: Like We Never Stopped

_Thank you to everyone for your reviews on Chapter 8. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm pretty happy with this one too. I really wish we were getting Finchel in the real Season 5, because from what it seems, Rachel needs Finn right now. This Rachel of Season 5 does not appear to be the Rachel I loved. :( Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to keep going._

Chapter 9: Like We Never Stopped

As Rachel sat in the hallway, waiting to be called in for her audition for the understudy, she thought about what had happened in this past year. She and Finn had broken up, then sort of gotten back together, then broken up again, then slept together, then she found out he was with someone else - and now they were finally back together. She'd been in New York alone at first, then in the dorm with the roommate who was sleeping with the whole school, then in the loft with Kurt, then Brody moved in, then Santana moved in, then Brody moved out... it was hard to keep track of everything. Blaine, Sam, Tina and Artie had visited this weekend, but they were all back in Lima now. She'd won the winter showcase, then lost Midnight Madness, then made it to the finals for playing Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, then been rejected, then gotten invited to audition to be the understudy. She'd begun to reconnect with Shelby, only to learn that there was another member of her family out there somewhere who she hadn't met.

Rachel's thoughts were interrupted when Rupert came out of the room. "Rachel, we're ready for you."

Rachel nodded and followed Rupert into the room, where Paolo and Marissa were waiting. "What song will you be singing for us today, Rachel?" Paolo asked.

"I'm going to be singing an original song that I wrote my junior year of high school, Get It Right," Rachel said. "This song is what I think of as my personal theme song." She'd talked to Finn, and they'd agreed that would be a good song to sing for the audition. She handed her sheet music to the pianist and began to sing.

_Rachel: What have I done  
I wish I could run  
Away from this ship going under  
Just trying to help  
Hurt everyone else  
Now I feel the weight of the world  
Is on my shoulders  
What can you do when your good isn't good enough  
And all that you touch, tumbles down  
'Cause my best intentions  
Keep making a mess of things  
I just wanna fix it somehow  
But how many times will it take  
Oh, how many times will it take for me  
To get it right  
To get it right  
Can I start again  
With my faith shaken  
'Cause I can't go back and undo this  
I just have to stay  
And face my mistakes  
But if I get stronger and wiser  
I'll get through this  
What can you do when your good isn't good enough  
And all that you touch, tumbles down  
'Cause my best intentions  
Keep making a mess of things  
I just wanna fix it somehow  
But how many times will it take?  
Oh, how many times will it take for me?  
To get it right  
So I throw up my fist  
Throw a punch in the air  
And accept the truth  
That sometimes life isn't fair  
Yeah, I'll send out a wish  
Yeah, I'll send up a prayer  
And finally someone will see  
How much I care  
What can you do when your good isn't good enough  
All that you touch, tumbles down  
Oh, my best intentions  
Keep making a mess of things  
I just wanna fix it somehow  
But how many times will it take?  
Oh, how many times will it take?  
To get it right  
To get it right_

"Thank you, Rachel," Rupert said. "We'll let you know soon."

Rachel thanked Rupert, Paolo and Marissa for their time and headed back to the apartment, where Kurt and Santana were waiting.

"How was your audition?" Kurt asked as Rachel came back in.

"It went okay, I think," Rachel said.

"That's good," Santana said.

Rachel nodded and went to the kitchen to get something to eat or drink.

"Rachel, are you all right?" Kurt asked. "You've been acting a little out of it lately."

Rachel sighed. She figured she might as well tell her two best friends. "When I saw Shelby last week, she told me something."

"What did she tell you?" Santana asked.

Rachel took a deep breath. "I have a sister."

"I thought you knew about Shelby and Beth," Santana said.

"Shelby has a third daughter," Rachel said. "She was born a few years after I was born. Shelby got pregnant after a one-night stand and gave her up for adoption."

"Wow," Kurt said. "So what's her name? Where is she?"

"That's the thing, Shelby doesn't know," Rachel said. "Shelby doesn't know her name or where she lives or anything like that. It was too hard for her with me, so she just gave the adoption agency her information to give the adoptive parents. She hasn't heard anything from the adoptive parents though."

"Did Shelby at least tell you where she was at the time?" Santana asked.

"She got pregnant in Ohio," Rachel said. "But that could mean anything. My sister's family could have moved." What probably was weighing on her mind the most was the unknown. "Should I even be calling her my sister? I mean, I don't even know anything about her, other than the fact that the same woman gave birth to us, but gave us both up."

"I'm sure it's natural to wonder," Santana said.

"I want to meet her," Rachel said. "Growing up, I always wanted a brother or sister."

"Yeah, Finn told me about that Only Child song of yours," Kurt said.

Finn. "Guys, please don't tell Finn about this," Rachel said.

"Rachel, Finn would want to know," Kurt said.

"Don't tell him until after Nationals," Rachel said. "He's been working so hard with those kids and I don't want anything to distract him."

"Okay, but you should tell him, eventually," Santana said.

"I'll think about it," Rachel said. Then, her phone started ringing. It was Finn. She smiled to herself and went to her room to answer it.

x

Finn was wondering how Rachel's audition had gone, but that wasn't the only reason he was calling. With Nationals coming up, he was so nervous. He wanted so badly for his New Directions career to end on a good note. Mr. Schue had put so much trust in him, especially when he trusted Finn to completely take the reins while he was in DC. He could tell that the students looked up to him, and this year had helped him realize that he wanted to be a teacher.

"Hey!" Rachel said as she picked up the phone.

"Hey," Finn said. "How was your audition?"

"It went okay, I think," Rachel said. "I sang Get It Right, like you suggested."

Finn was happy Rachel had liked his suggestion. "I bet you sounded great."

"I like to think so," Rachel said. "So, how are you?"

"Rach, I'm nervous about Nationals," Finn admitted.

"You shouldn't be nervous," Rachel said. "You were the real Nationals MVP last year. You led us to victory."

"Yeah, but I didn't have the pressure of making sure everyone was at their best on my shoulders," Finn said. "I just want to end my run here with another title." He'd seen the videos of Throat Explosion on YouTube, and Jean Baptiste, their lead singer, had a talent that sort of freaked him out.

"Finn, remember, you're not alone," Rachel said. "Mr. Schue's there too, and all the alumni are coming back to help."

"That's part of what I wanted to ask you about," Finn said. "I was thinking of maybe having each new member pair up with a graduate to be their mentor for Nationals, like we did for Sectionals."

"That's a great idea," Rachel said.

"I'm excited to go to LA," Finn said. "Maybe you and I could go on a date while we're there?"

"Of course!" Rachel said. "I'm sorry you're nervous, Finn. But remember, it's natural to be nervous, and if you're nervous, that means that you want to do well."

Rachel always knew the right thing to say. "Thanks, Rach," Finn said.

"So, who would you pair me with for mentoring?" Rachel asked.

"Well, we'll probably put the people who were around at Sectionals with the same mentors as at Sectionals," Finn said. "Unique loves Mercedes and Kurt, so I think we'll let her work with both of them. We'll probably put you with Kylie."

"It'll be nice to work with the New Directions again," Rachel said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see you," Finn said. "I'm still picking you, Kurt and Santana up at the airport, right?"

"Of course," Rachel said. "I'm so excited to see you."

x

A few days later, Finn stood in the terminal at the Toledo airport, waiting for the plane from New York to arrive. It had only been a few weeks, but he couldn't wait to see Rachel. Soon enough, Rachel, Kurt and Santana came walking down the terminal. Finn ran up to them and kissed Rachel, then hugged Kurt and Santana.

"It's great to see you, Finn," Kurt said.

"You too," Finn said. "Mom and Dad are excited to see you, Kurt."

"Of course they are," Kurt said.

"Finn, can you drop me off at Brittany's first?" Santana asked. "I promised her I'd hang out with her."

"What about Dani?" Kurt asked, saying what Finn was thinking. Both Rachel and Kurt had said that Santana was interested in one of their co-workers at the diner.

"Brittany knows about her, and she understands," Santana said. "But Brittany's my best friend, and that will never change."

"What about you, Kurt?" Finn asked, hoping he and Rachel could have the house to themselves. "Should I drop you at Blaine's? Mom and Dad are at some congress thing."

"Yeah, I'd love to see Blaine," Kurt said.

"Okay, I'll drop you off there then," Finn said, giving Rachel a half smile. Rachel smiled back, as if she knew that meant that they would get some time to themselves. When they got to Lima, Finn dropped Santana off at Brittany's house and Kurt off at Blaine's before he and Rachel drove to the Hudson-Hummel house.

"You'll have to excuse things," Finn told Rachel as they headed up to his room. "I've been packing a lot for New York."

"I'm so excited to have you in New York," Rachel said.

"I'm excited to come to New York," Finn said.

Rachel looked nervous. "Finn..."

"What is it, Rach?" Finn asked.

"I really wish you were living in the loft with us in New York," Rachel said.

That was what Rachel looked so nervous about? Finn wanted so badly to bring that up. "Blaine really wants to live in the loft with Kurt, and Sam, Artie and Tina can't seem to get out of dorms at their schools, so I was hoping I could live in the loft. I didn't want to live by myself and besides, apartments in New York are expensive."

"Yeah, I was worried you wouldn't want to live with us," Rachel said.

"You really thought I wouldn't want to live with you?" Finn asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said. "I thought you might think it was awkward."

"I'd love to live with you, Rachel," Finn said, giving her a hug.

"Nothing would make me happier," Rachel said.

"So, when do you think you'll hear back about whether not you got to be the understudy?" Finn asked. He knew how disappointed she'd been about not getting the part, and he was hoping she'd get to be the understudy.

"Still no word," Rachel said.

"You'll get it," Finn said. "I know you will. In the mean time, want to make up for lost time?"

Rachel smiled. "I'd love to."

Finn took Rachel's hand as they went upstairs. When they were in the bedroom, he felt that special feeling that he'd missed so much.

x

"Did you have a good night with Blaine?" Rachel asked Kurt as they drove to McKinley to help prepare the New Directions for Nationals.

"Yeah!" Kurt said. "I slept in his bed with him."

"You did?" Rachel asked. "What did his parents think of that?"

"Oh, we told them I was sleeping in the guest room," Kurt said. "What about you and Finn?"

"We did it again last night," Rachel said. "It was amazing."

"How did it feel?" Kurt asked.

"It felt like we never stopped," Rachel said, remembering last night.

"That's what it felt like for me the first time Blaine and I did it again," Kurt said. The car pulled up to McKinley, and Kurt and Rachel began walking through the halls when they heard a voice. "It's the other divas!"

Kurt and Rachel turned and saw Mercedes and went up to her to hug her. "We need to have a three divas sleepover again soon!" Mercedes said.

"We do!" Kurt said.

Rachel got an idea. "We do, but we've never had a sleepover for all the glee girls. Maybe as a way to bond and get ready for Nationals, we can have all the glee girls, past and present, come to my dads' house for a sleepover."

"I bet that would be fun!" Mercedes said.

"I can come too, right?" Kurt asked.

"Of course!" Rachel said as she, Kurt and Mercedes went into the choir room. The other alumni had already arrived and were at the front of the room with Finn and Mr. Schue.

"Now all our special guests for this week are here!" Mr. Schue said. "For lots of you, it's your first Nationals, so we brought back some people who know what it takes to win Nationals. This week, each of the new members will be paired with one of the graduates from the National championship winning team so you can work with them on anything you want help with."

"Those of you who were here at Thanksgiving will work with the same mentors you worked with then," Finn said. "So Jake, you're working with Puck. Ryder, you're working with Mike. Marley, you're working with Santana. Kitty, you're working with Quinn. Unique, you're working with Mercedes, but since we all know what a big fan you are of Kurt as well, we thought you might like to work with him, too. And Kylie, you'll be with Rachel."

"All of us got reservations at the same hotel you guys are staying at in LA," Santana said. "So we'll be able to work with you at any time."

"And speaking of the hotel," Mr. Schue said. "I do have your room assignments. I got five rooms for you guys, so I split the boys into two rooms and the girls into three. Blaine, Sam and Artie will be in one room and Jake, Ryder and Joe will be in the other boys' room. The girls' room assignments will be Marley and Unique, Kitty and Sugar, and Tina and Kylie."

"Be glad you all don't have to squeeze into one room," Santana said.

"Our junior year, we only had enough money in the budget for two hotel rooms," Quinn said. "So the girls and Kurt were in one room, and the rest of the guys were in the other."

Rachel smiled at that memory. Senior year, there was enough money for everyone to only have one roommate, so she and Kurt had shared a room and Finn and Blaine had shared a room, but they sometimes would trade rooms at night.

"We've been working on our setlist," Mr. Schue said. "Right now, you guys can get with your mentor and talk about anything you want to talk about leading up to Nationals. Those of you who were on the Nationals winning team last year can run through your parts of the numbers."

Rachel went up to Kylie. "So, I'm your mentor."

"Yeah," Kylie said. "I had a feeling it would be you, since you recruited me to join the group."

"Are you enjoying it?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I am," Kylie said. "Everyone here is really nice and it's good to have friends. Plus I've always wanted to go to California."

"So, how are you feeling about Nationals?" Rachel asked.

"I'm nervous," Kylie said. "There's probably going to be thousands of people in the audience. When Blaine and I put the setlist together, I told him that I didn't want solo lines in any group numbers."

"Well, not having solo lines is a good idea if you're afraid of the crowd," Rachel said. "I remember my first singing competition. I wanted my dad to go sit on the stage with me."

"You got nervous?" Kylie asked. "Mr. Schue showed us the videos of all the old competitions. You had big solos in all of them."

"You don't have to do big solos to be an important part of the team," Rachel said. "Everyone here has something special that they bring to the team, and that's what I loved about being on the team."

x

Rachel had told the other glee girls (past and present) about her idea for having a sleepover to prepare for Nationals and spend some time together, and the girls had all loved that idea. After a week of getting ready, she thought the girls could use some time to unwind and have fun before leaving for LA. Rachel's dads were upstairs now, so Rachel was just waiting in the living room when the doorbell rang. She went to the door and opened it, seeing Tina there. "Tina!" Rachel said, giving her a hug.

"Rachel!" Tina said.

"We'll be having more of these in New York," Rachel said.

"Yeah, I wish they weren't making me live in the dorm," Tina said.

"Are you excited to do the duet at Nationals?" Rachel asked Tina.

"Yeah, I am," Tina said. "You did say I was going to be the female lead after you graduated."

"And you are," Rachel said. "I'm so glad you're coming to New York in the fall."

"So am I," Tina said. "So, how's the long distance going with you and Finn?"

"It's been good to be back together, but I'm definitely glad he'll be in New York in the fall," Rachel said. "I miss him."

"Rachel, I still love Mike," Tina said. "I would like to try long distance again."

"Well, Mike's a really nice guy and I could tell he really loved you," Rachel told Tina. "Why did you guys break up?"

"I thought it would be easier while he was at school, but it just made me miss him more," Tina admitted.

"You should try talking to him," Rachel said. "You guys were really happy together, I'm sure he'd be open to getting back together."

Before Tina had a chance to respond, the doorbell rang again. Rachel and Tina went to the door to see Quinn, Santana and Brittany. "It's the unholy trinity!"

"Yes!" Quinn said.

"It's weird being the only one of the original six glee girls still in glee," Tina said.

"After you and Artie graduate, there won't be any original members left in New Directions," Brittany said. "It's sad."

"It is!" Rachel agreed as she heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it. It was Kurt and Mercedes.

"All the original girls and Kurt!" Mercedes said.

"Yes!" Rachel said. "It's so nice to all be together."

"I've been meaning to ask you, how are you doing?" Quinn said. "You've seemed to be doing pretty well this week, but I'm sure it was disappointing for you."

"Yeah, it was, but hopefully I'll get the understudy," Rachel said.

"I'm glad you came with us, Rachel," Santana said. "You could use a break from everything, both the Funny Girl stress and the news from Shelby."

Rachel hadn't wanted to tell people about what she'd found out from Shelby, but now she felt like she had to. "What happened with Shelby?" Mercedes asked.

"I have a sister," Rachel said. "Shelby gave her up for adoption too, but the difference is Shelby doesn't know who adopted her, so I have little to no chance of meeting my only biological sibling." Ever since Shelby had told her, she'd been wondering.

"So there's no way of finding out who she is and where she is?" Tina asked.

"I want to know," Rachel said. Before Kurt or any of the girls had a chance to say anything, the doorbell rang. She didn't feel comfortable talking about this with the new girls because she didn't know them as well. "Guys, just don't say anything about this to Finn." She went to the door and saw Sugar, Unique, Kitty, Marley and Kylie. "Hey guys! Come on in!"

"Thanks for having us over, Rachel," Marley said.

"Oh, it's my pleasure," Rachel said. "I thought it would be a fun girls' night."

"Yeah, it will," Kitty said.

"So, are you girls excited for Nationals?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah!" Marley said. "We're going to win again."

"Yes you will," Brittany said. "I'm glad there seems to be less drama."

Mercedes turned to Unique. "How are things with Ryder? Does he seem to be mad at you still?"

"Well, I still like him," Unique admitted. "I don't know if he'd want to date me, but we are friends again. I apologized for what I did, and he's started talking with me again, so that's something."

"That's good," Kurt said. He turned to Kitty. "So, I heard you're dating one of the original New Directions members now."

"Yes!" Kitty said proudly. "Me and Artie!"

"He's really happy with her," Tina said. "It's the happiest I've seen him with any girl."

"That's great!" Mercedes said.

"Yeah," Kitty said. "I'm really going to miss him when he goes to New York, but we'll talk on the phone every day, and in two years I'd like to go to school there."

"And you're always welcome to come visit!" Rachel said.

"Quinn better come up from New Haven when I visit," Kitty said.

"I will," Quinn said.

Rachel's dads came downstairs. "Hi ladies!" LeRoy said.

"Hi Mr. and Mr. Berry," Brittany said.

"We wanted to let you girls know that there's lots of snacks in the kitchen," Hiram said. "And to wish those of you going to LA good luck at Nationals!"

"Thanks," Marley said.

"Make sure you eat the snacks this time," Unique said to Marley.

Marley smiled. "I will."

Rachel went up to her dads. "Thanks for letting me have the girls over."

"Oh, it's no problem, sweetie," Hiram said. "It's so nice to see you with all your girls again."

_Chapter 10 preview: New Directions and the alumni go to LA for Nationals. While in LA, Finchel run into someone from their past, Kurt finds out that Blaine wanted to propose to him, and Santana tells Brittany about Dani._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 10!_


	10. Chapter 10: City Of Angels

_Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all your reviews on the last chapter. I appreciate it! I hope all of you got to see it, I know we were all cautious with the internet because of Heartbleed. I tried to keep this chapter somewhat similar to the canon Nationals (same setlist, though I did want all five Season 4/5 newbies from the show to have a part in one of the group numbers, so I changed up America a little), but of course, I did add in some Finchel! Hope you enjoy and review if you want me to keep going!_

Chapter 10: City of Angels

The plane to LA was taking off from the Columbus airport, and Finn looked out the window. This was it, his last competition linked to the New Directions. He couldn't help but feel a little sad. Rachel took Finn's hand as the plane took off. "Excited to share a hotel room with me?"

Leave it to Rachel to make him feel better. "Of course!"

"Though we did manage to sneak a few shares last year," Rachel whispered.

"What are you two whispering about?" Quinn asked. She and Puck were next to Finn and Rachel on the plane.

"Do you really want to know?" Finn asked.

"Well, probably not," Puck admitted.

Finn smirked and kissed Rachel. "That's what I thought."

"Hi Quinn," a voice said. Rachel, Finn, Puck and Quinn looked up and saw Joe.

"Hi Joe," Quinn said. "How've you been?"

"I'm good, getting ready for my senior year," Joe said. "So, you're with Puck now?"

"Yeah," Quinn said. "I'm sorry things didn't work out last year. I don't think it was the right time for a serious relationship."

"That's okay," Joe said. "I started dating Sugar, but I hope we can still be friends."

"Of course," Quinn said. "Nice to see you."

When Joe left, Puck turned to Quinn. "Well, I now know he's happy with Sugar, and Finn obviously is sticking with Rachel. What about Sam?"

"I think Sam's getting back into Mercedes," Finn told Puck. Sam had been talking about Mercedes a lot lately.

"So I have nothing to worry about," Puck said.

"That's right," Quinn said.

Finn felt something against him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Rachel had leaned up against him and fallen asleep. "Someone's tired," Puck said.

"She doesn't like flying," Finn said. "And this is a pretty long flight." He wasn't complaining though. He liked the feeling of Rachel up against him.

x

The plane landed in LA and the New Directions were bussed to their hotel. Finn, Rachel and Kurt were sharing a hotel room that happened to be next to Blaine, Sam and Artie's. During the free time, Finn and Rachel went to the hotel pool so Kurt and Blaine could have some time in the hotel room. When Finn and Rachel were at the pool, it was time for Kurt and Blaine to have a private conversation in the privacy of their hotel room.

"Kurt, there's something you should know," Blaine said. He knew that since he'd talked to Sam, Tina, Finn and Burt there was a chance that Kurt would find out at some point or another, but he wanted to be the one to tell Kurt.

"Okay, I'm listening," Kurt said.

"I was considering proposing to you," Blaine admitted.

Kurt looked surprised. "Proposing? Blaine, we just got back together."

Blaine was afraid to admit the next part to Kurt. "It was before we got back together."

"So, you wanted to get back together by proposing to me?" Kurt said.

"Yeah," Blaine said. "I wanted to get you back in a big way - but maybe now isn't the right time."

"I would like you to propose to me eventually," Kurt said. "But we just got back together."

Blaine felt better about that. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kurt said. "I just needed time to recover from what happened."

"I know," Blaine said. "I can't stop saying I'm so sorry for what happened."

"I know," Kurt said. "Let's see how living together in New York goes."

"So you're okay with me living in the loft?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah," Kurt said. "I like the idea of living with you, and since Finn's living in the loft too and Sam, Artie and Tina have to live in dorms, it would be too expensive for you to get your own apartment."

"Yeah, and we heard Rachel's stories about the NYADA dorm," Blaine said as they climbed on to Kurt's bed, both knowing that one day, even though not now, they would be married.

x

"You look hot in your bikini," Finn said to Rachel as they sat by the side of the hotel pool.

"Of course you think so," Rachel giggled.

"Well, I guess you're right," Finn said. "So, what do you think of LA?"

"It's nice," Rachel said. "Warm and sunny."

"Remember last year when I suggested we move here?" Finn asked.

Rachel thought for a minute. "Yeah. I'm sorry for how I acted."

"You had a point," Finn said. "You are Broadway bound."

A year ago Rachel would have said that for sure. Now she wasn't so sure. "That's what I thought back then."

"You still are," Finn said.

"I don't know, Finn," Rachel said. "However, I'm glad you realized you're so much better than cleaning pools."

"You always thought so," Finn said.

"And I always will," Rachel said as she leaned in to kiss Finn.

"Well, well, look who's here," a voice said. Rachel looked up and saw Jesse St. James. "Finn, if I were you, I'd wear a swimshirt," Jesse said. "You could stand to get rid of a few."

Well, Rachel now knew that some people would never change. "Finn's got a great body."

"You, however, look great, Rachel," Jesse said. "I heard about Funny Girl."

Finn stood up and put his arm around Rachel. "Don't make her feel bad about it."

"They must be on something," Jesse said. "Maybe it's because I wasn't trying out with you."

"Jesse, stop it," Rachel said. "I love Finn."

"I thought you two broke up," Jesse said.

"We did, but we're back together now, and we're staying together," Finn said.

"Finn?" Jesse said to Rachel. "You can do so much better. You and I could take Broadway by storm."

"Stop it," Rachel said.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Finn asked Jesse. "Vocal Adrenaline got beaten by Throat Explosion at their Regionals, if I'm remembering correctly."

"I'm just here to scope out the competition," Jesse said.

"Well, you can look forward to another New Directions win," Finn said as he led Rachel into the pool.

"I was hoping he wouldn't be here," Rachel said to Finn.

"You know he loves this type of stuff," Finn said. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"I know," Rachel said as she kissed Finn. "Finn, can I tell you something?"

"You know you can always tell me anything," Finn said.

"I'm considering transferring colleges," Rachel said. "I'm tired of Cassandra July, tired of Brody."

"But this is your dream!" Finn said.

"I've been doing some thinking," Rachel told Finn. "Maybe part of the reason why I've been so focused on Broadway is because my dads had me in singing and dancing and acting classes and watching Broadway musicals since I was a toddler and I don't know much else."

"Are you sure you're not just talking that way because you're upset about Funny Girl?" Finn asked.

"This was the worst year of my life," Rachel said. "And what did I spend the year focused on? NYADA and Broadway."

"I think you might just be upset about Funny Girl," Finn said. "Let's just enjoy this week and then when we get home we can talk about the fall."

Rachel gave Finn a kiss. "Sounds good."

x

Meanwhile, Brittany and Santana were sitting in the hotel's game room. "I've missed you," Brittany said to Santana.

"I've missed you too," Santana said. She knew she had to tell Brittany the truth. She'd told other people that Brittany knew about Dani, but she really hadn't. It was possible that someone else would tell Brittany about her, and she wanted to be the one to tell her.

"So, are you dating anyone in New York?" Brittany asked.

"Well... no," Santana said. That was true.

"Well, I'm not dating anyone at MIT," Brittany said.

"Well, if I'm going to be honest, I am interested in someone in New York," Santana admitted. She'd already lied to Kurt and Rachel, and one of them was bound to say something to Brittany if she didn't.

Brittany looked upset. "Who is she?"

"She works at the diner with me, Kurt and Rachel," Santana said. "She really helped me adjust to the diner and we've been hanging out. She's really nice and I have fun with her."

"Oh," Brittany said. "Well, that's good."

"You're okay with this?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, I just said I was, didn't I?" Brittany said. But she didn't look like she was okay with it.

x

The week in LA flew by. Before anyone knew it, it was the night before the competition, and Mr. Schue, Finn and the graduates had just watched the team run through their setlist. Finn thought they looked and sounded great, but he had no idea what they were up against.

"Okay, I think we're going to do really well tomorrow," Finn told the group.

"I hope so," Marley said.

"You guys are going to be amazing," Rachel said. "Every time I've heard you guys practice, you've sounded better, and I think you'll sound even better tomorrow."

Finn smiled at Rachel, her optimism was definitely sexy. "Yeah, listen to her."

"So you think we have a chance?" Jake asked.

"Definitely," Mr. Schue said. "You guys have so much talent. Now tonight, I just want you guys to have as much fun as possible."

The group began to leave, and Ryder came up to Finn and Rachel. "Hey, I just wanted to thank you guys for convincing me to come back to Glee."

"It was my pleasure," Finn said. "Glee club is such a special place, and I didn't want you to miss out on it."

"Yeah, I'm glad to be back," Ryder said. "This week's been a lot of fun, and I'm really not mad at Unique anymore. She's a really great girl, you know?"

"She is very talented," Rachel said. "And she seems nice."

"Both those things are true," Ryder said. "Well, thanks again."

x

The next day, the New Directions headed to the convention center for the competition, and the alumni could spend some time with the current New Directions members before they had to go to the team area. Since Rachel had been assigned to mentor Kylie for the week, she decided to talk to her a little before the New Directions went backstage. "You ready?" Rachel asked.

"I think so," Kylie said.

"Hey, I know you were nervous, but you're really talented," Rachel said. "I know you're afraid to sing solos in front of a lot of people now, but you're only a freshman, and I can see you one day leading a big number one day if you're ready."

"Wow," Kylie said. "Thanks so much."

"I really liked working with you this week," Rachel said.

"I'm really glad that you recruited me for glee," Kylie said. "If it wasn't for glee, I'd probably not have friends at this school yet."

"I didn't have friends until I joined glee either," Rachel said.

Mr. Schue came up to them. "Kylie, we'd better get backstage."

"Good luck!" Rachel said.

Kylie gave Rachel a hug before going to join the rest of the glee club. "Thanks!"

When Kylie was gone, Finn came up to Rachel. "So, this is it."

Rachel smiled at her boyfriend. "Kick some ass. They sounded great yesterday. Almost as good as a Finchel-led New Directions."

Finn gave Rachel a half smile. "Well, nothing can beat Finchel."

"These guys are close enough," Rachel said. "You've done an amazing job this year, and no matter what, they win today, because they had you."

Finn gave Rachel a big hug. "I love you."

"I love you too," Rachel said. She gave Finn a quick kiss before going to join Kurt, Santana, Quinn, Puck, Mike, Mercedes and Brittany in the stands. The first few groups she'd heard were pretty good. She personally didn't think they were as good as New Directions, but was she biased? She was nervous for Finn.

Finally, the New Directions were announced, and the curtains came up to reveal Blaine and Tina center stage for their duet with everyone else behind them to back them up.

_Blaine: I looked out this morning and the sun was gone  
Turned on some music to start my day  
I lost myself in a familiar song  
Blaine and Tina: I closed my eyes and I slipped away  
Blaine: It's more than a feeling  
Tina: When I hear that old song they used to play  
Blaine and Tina: And I begin dreaming  
Tina: 'Til I see Marianne walk away  
Blaine: I see my Marianne walkin' away, hey!  
When I'm tired and thinking cold  
Blaine and Tina: I hide in my music, forget the day  
Blaine: And dream of a girl I used to know  
I closed my eyes and she slipped away  
Blaine and Tina: She slipped away  
Blaine (New Directions): It's more than a feeling (More than a feeling)  
Tina: When I hear that old song they used to play (New Directions: More than a feeling)  
Blaine and Tina (New Directions): And I begin dreaming (More than a feeling)  
Tina and Blaine: 'Til I see Marianne walk away  
Blaine: More than a feeling_

The duet had sounded great, and the alumni were on their feet. To Rachel's delight, so were most of the other people in the audience. The next number was one of the two group numbers, this one featuring several of the new members. Rachel was excited for them to have their first chance to sing on a National stage.

_Artie: Far  
We've been traveling far  
Without a home  
But not without a star  
Kitty and Sam: Free  
Only want to be free  
We huddle close  
Hang on to a dream  
Kitty: On the boats and on the planes  
They're coming to America  
Kitty and Unique: Never looking back again  
They're coming to America  
Sam: Home  
Don't it seem so far away  
Oh, we're traveling light today  
In the eye of the storm  
In the eye of the storm  
Artie: Home  
To a new and a shiny place  
Make our bed and we'll say our grace  
New Directions: Freedom's light burning warm  
Artie: Freedom's light burning warm  
New Directions: Freedom's light burning warm!  
Ryder: Everywhere around the world (Marley: Everywhere!)  
They're coming to America (Marley: They're coming to America!)  
Every time that (Marley: flag's unfurled)  
They're coming to America (Marley: Ooh!)  
Jake: Got a dream to take them there  
New Directions: They're coming to America  
Jake: Got a dream they've come to share  
New Directions: They're coming to America  
They're coming to America  
They're coming to America  
They're coming to America  
They're coming to America  
Today (Artie: We're coming!) (Marley: We're coming!)  
Today (Jake: Today!) (Ryder: Oooh!)  
Today (Unique: Today!) (Artie: We're comin', Oooo!)  
Today (Kitty: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!) (Artie: Today)  
New Directions: They're coming to America (Unique: Coming to America!)  
They're coming to America (Artie: Oh-woah!) (Artie and Kitty: Today!)  
They're coming to America (Unique: America!) (Today)  
They're coming to America (Unique: Today, oh!) (Today)  
(Ooh!) (Unique: We're coming) (Ooh!) Today  
Today! (Unique: They're coming to America)  
(Ooooh!) Today! (Artie: Today!)_

Two great numbers were down, and there was one to go. This last number was one of Finn's favorite songs, and Rachel knew Finn had been so happy that Blaine and Kylie had selected it for the setlist. It was also heavily featuring all four seniors, which was nice because all four of them would get some time to shine in their last competition.

_Sam: I have climbed highest mountains  
I have run through the fields  
Only to be with you  
Only to be with you  
Blaine and Sam: I have run  
I have crawled  
I have scaled these city walls  
Blaine: These city walls  
Only to be with you  
New Directions: But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
Artie: I have kissed honey lips  
Felt the healing fingertips  
It burnt like fire  
This burning desire  
Tina: I have spoke with the tongue of angels  
I have held (Artie: I have held!) the hand of a devil  
It was warm in the night  
I was cold as a stone (Artie: Cold as a stone!)  
New Directions: But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
Blaine and Tina: I believe (Artie: I believe) in the kingdom come (Artie: Ooh)  
Then all the colors will bleed into one (Artie: Bleed into one)  
Bleed into one (Artie: Ooo) (Tina: Yeah...)  
Blaine: But yes I'm still running (Tina: Yes I'm still running) (Artie: Yes I'm still running!)  
Sam: You broke the bonds  
And you loosed the chains  
Carried the cross  
Of my shame  
Oh my shame (Artie: Ooh)  
You know I believe it (Artie: Believe it...)  
New Directions: But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
Blaine, Sam, Artie and Tina: But I still haven't found what I'm looking for!_

Whatever the results turned out to be, the New Directions had put forth their best effort, and Rachel was proud of Finn and of all of them. At this moment, she was so proud to be an alumni of this organization.

The rest of the performances were good too, but as far as Rachel was concerned, no one deserved the title more than New Directions. Sure enough, the New Directions were in the top three, along with Throat Explosion and the Amazonians, and as they stood there waiting, Rachel's heart was beating at a million miles per hour for Finn.

The Amazonians were announced as the third place team, and then Rachel gripped Kurt's hand as they waited to hear the winner. The MC said that the New Directions were second, and that first place went to Throat Explosion.

x

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rachel asked Finn for what felt like the millionth time. After their defeat, Mr. Schue had told Finn to take tonight off to go out with Rachel for dinner. Rachel had told Finn that she'd pay tonight, and he knew that was because she felt sorry for him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Finn said, leaning across the table and taking Rachel's hand. "I just wanted to win."

"I know you did," Rachel said softly. "And I think you deserved to win."

"Sure, that Canadian guy who was the lead of Throat Explosion was good, but..." Finn didn't know what to say. Jean Baptiste was good.

"Second place is still pretty good," Rachel said. "It is better when we finished 12th our junior year."

"Remember how everyone blamed it on our kiss?" Finn asked.

"I think that kiss made the performance even better!" Rachel said. "I think we lost because that Light Up The World song was... not good."

Finn managed to laugh. "Hey, our duet was good. It makes me kind of sad that both times we did a duet, we lost."

"Both times, we were robbed, in my opinion," Rachel said. "But look, no matter how many trophies there are, we've all won, because we're part of something amazing."

"I won you from glee," Finn said.

"And I won you," Rachel said. "Let's just enjoy our last night in LA."

"Of course," Finn said.

_Chapter 11 preview: New Directions and alumni return to Lima for the graduation of the Class of 2013. Rachel hears back from Funny Girl about whether she got to be the understudy._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 11!_


	11. Chapter 11: Graduation 2013

_Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I really appreciate them. I have noticed that there have been fewer reviews lately, but I guess that's to be expected when Finchel's not part of the show anymore. I miss Finchel so much :( I didn't see Glee last night, but apparently Rachel talked about her love for Finn. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and review if I should keep going!_

Chapter 11: Graduation 2013

The New Directions and alumni arrived back in Lima after Nationals. As they stood in the choir room to put the second place trophy in the cabinet, Finn was reminded of last year, when he and Rachel put the trophy in the case. This year, Blaine and Sam put the trophy in the case.

"It's shorter than last year's, but not as short as our trophy from junior year," Brittany said as the group looked at it.

"Thanks to those two!" Artie said, pointing at Finn and Rachel.

"Will everyone let that go already?" Finn said as everyone laughed.

"Second place is pretty awesome," Mr. Schue told the group. "Those of you who are graduating have a first place finish to remember. Underclassmen, you still have time to get one. When I started the glee club back when the current seniors were freshmen, I never would have imagined we would have placed in the top fifteen at Nationals three years in a row and the top two twice in a row."

The group cheered again as they went to go sit in familiar chairs.

"Those of you who were here last year know what happens this week," Mr. Schue said. "In a week, the Class of 2013 will have their graduation. Underclassmen, you guys put together a song to say goodbye to the seniors. Seniors, you put together a number to say goodbye to us. And since the alumni are back, if you want, you can do a song for the seniors as well."

"May I say something?" Brittany asked.

"Of course you can," Mr. Schue said.

"My parents talked to the school," Brittany said. "Even though I left before the school year is over, I'm still going to be part of the graduation ceremony."

The group applauded for Brittany as Blaine turned to her. "Would you like to sing in the senior song then?" Blaine asked Brittany.

"I'd love to," Brittany said.

"And Class of 2012, let's meet at my house today to put together a number for the seniors," Rachel said.

"Taking charge, are you?" Mercedes asked.

"Of course!" Rachel said.

"At least she's acting like Rachel again," Santana said.

x

The other alumni would be coming over that evening, but for now, Rachel wanted some time alone with Finn at her dads' house. Between Nationals and the trip to LA, she'd almost forgotten that she'd auditioned to be the understudy in Funny Girl and that she still hadn't heard back from the director. "Maybe they didn't like me again, so they just aren't calling me," Rachel told Finn.

"Rachel, don't be silly," Finn said. "Even if you don't get the understudy role, there will be other productions."

"I know," Rachel said. "I'm just glad that whatever life throws at me in New York, you'll be there."

"Of course," Finn said. "So will Kurt and Santana, and in the fall, Blaine, Sam, Artie and Tina will be there too."

"Yeah," Rachel said. "This time, there aren't going to be any breakups. You and I are staying together forever."

"Did you just propose to me?" Finn asked, laughing.

"That's your job," Rachel said as she kissed Finn.

"We just got back together," Finn pointed out.

"You're right," Rachel said. Then, her phone started vibrating. She knew this number. It was Rupert Campion. "Finn, it's him."

"Answer it!" Finn said, leaning toward Rachel and the phone.

Rachel knew she couldn't get out of answering the phone with Finn eagerly awaiting to hear what Rupert would have to say. "Hello?"

"Rachel, this is Rupert Campion from Funny Girl," Rupert said.

"Hi," Rachel said.

"Rachel, I wanted to let you know that we'd like you to be the understudy for Fanny Brice in this production," Rupert said.

She'd gotten the job as the understudy? Rachel smiled wide. "Wow."

"So, you know that means that you need to know all the lines and all the songs in case Marissa ever can't perform," Rupert said.

Rachel knew that. "I can do that."

"So I'll call you soon to let you know about the rehearsal schedule," Rupert said.

"That's great," Rachel said. "I promise you won't regret choosing me." As she hung up the phone, she turned to Finn. "Finn, I'm the understudy!"

"I'm so proud of you!" Finn said, giving Rachel a hug.

"Thank you!" Rachel said.

"So, when do you want to tell people?" Finn asked. He perked up and his smile got bigger. "Can I tell people?"

Rachel smiled. She had a feeling Finn was even more excited than she was. "Let's focus on graduation this week."

Finn pouted. "Okay."

Within a few minutes, Kurt, Santana, Mercedes, Quinn, Puck and Mike had all arrived at Rachel's house. Rachel wanted to tell her friends the news. She could tell Finn wanted to tell them too. But they couldn't tell them now. Right now, the eight graduates were sitting in Rachel's living room having snacks and talking. "At this time last year, we were choosing a song to say goodbye to the underclass members of New Directions," Rachel said.

"I think You Get What You Give was a good choice," Finn said.

"Well, you picked it!" Kurt said. "We sounded pretty great though."

"I liked the song the underclassmen did for us too," Finn said.

"So, what song do you guys think we should sing for the seniors?" Quinn asked.

"We should do Seasons of Love," Mercedes said.

"I can't believe the glee club hasn't done that song yet," Rachel said. She'd always liked that song.

"Yeah, I love that song," Kurt said.

"Well, I don't know that song, but if you three think it's good, it must be," Puck said.

"After they graduate, do you know who's going to be the leads of New Directions?" Mike asked Finn.

"I don't know," Finn said. "I'm sure whoever they pick will be amazing."

"You and Rachel did a great job," Kurt said. "And Blaine and Sam did a great job this year, too. I'm sure whoever gets it next year will be amazing, too."

"I do miss being in that choir room," Rachel thought out loud. "I mean, I do still get to sing at NYADA, and I'll get to sing once I start rehearsals, but we had something special, and we all had this special bond."

"Had?" Mercedes said. "We still have it."

"Yeah, we don't get to see each other as often, but we're still close," Quinn said.

"Right now it feels like no time has passed," Finn said. "And we'll have that forever."

Rachel gave Finn a kiss. "Let's decide who's singing which part of the song for tomorrow, shall we?"

x

"The Class of 2012 got together yesterday and we wanted to do something special for Artie, Blaine, Tina, Sam and Brittany," Rachel said in the choir room the next day. "A year has passed, but what we got in this room is still with us, and the experience, the camraderie and the support that New Directions provided for us are things that we'll always carry with us, and we know that's something you'll always carry with you as well."

She stepped back to stand next to Finn as the music began and the Class of 2012 all sang together for the first time in nearly a year.

_New Directions alumni: Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes  
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear  
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes  
How do you measure, measure a year?  
In daylights, in sunsets  
In midnights, in cups of coffee  
In inches, in miles  
In laughter, in strife  
Finn and Rachel: In five hundred twenty-five thousand  
Six hundred minutes  
How do you measure  
A year in the life?  
Mike: How about love?  
How about love?  
How about love?  
New Directions alumni: Measure in love  
Seasons of love  
Rachel: Five hundred twenty-five thousand  
Six hundred minutes  
Santana: Five hundred twenty-five thousand  
Journeys to plan  
Mercedes: Five hundred twenty-five thousand  
Six hundred minutes  
Quinn: How do you measure  
The life of a woman or a man?  
Puck: In truths that she learned  
Or in times that he cried  
Finn: In bridges he burned  
Or the way that she died!  
New Directions alumni: It's time now  
To sing out  
Though the story never ends  
Let's celebrate  
Remember a year in the life of friends  
Remember the love! (Kurt: Oh, you've got to, you've got to remember the love)  
Remember the love! (Santana: Share love, give love, spread-ead love)  
Measure in love! (Mercedes: Measure, measure your life in love, ooh)  
Seasons of love  
Seasons of love  
Rachel: Measure your life, measure your life in love _

The current members of New Directions applauded as the current seniors ran up to hug those who were in the place those who'd just sang were in last year. "That song was perfect," Tina whispered to Rachel.

"Well, you guys deserve something special," Rachel whispered back.

"Mr. Schue, the underclassmen have something prepared for the seniors, too," Marley said.

"That's great," Mr. Schue said. "The floor's yours."

It felt like last year as Rachel was sitting in the chairs of the choir room with Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Puck, Sam, Mercedes, Tina, Mike and Artie. The difference was that half the people at the front of the room hadn't been in the glee club last year.

"We wanted to thank all of you guys for being so amazing this year," Kitty said. "Of course Artie's the most amazing, but the rest of you are pretty amazing, too. If it wasn't for glee club, I'd probably still be the mean cheerio who looked down on everyone."

"We're really going to miss you guys," Ryder added. "So, this is for the five of you. Thank you for this year."

_Ryder: I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,  
And each road leads you where you want to go,  
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,  
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.  
Jake: And if one door opens to another door closed,  
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,  
Marley: If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,  
But more than anything, more than anything,  
New Directions underclassmen: My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,  
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,  
You never need to carry more than you can hold,  
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,  
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,  
Yeah, this, is my wish.  
Marley: I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,  
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,  
Unique: I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,  
And you help somebody every chance you get,  
Kitty: Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,  
And you always give more than you take.  
Marley, Kitty, Unique, Sugar and Kylie: But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,  
New Directions underclassmen: My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,  
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,  
You never need to carry more than you can hold,  
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,  
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,  
Yeah, this, is my wish.  
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,  
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,  
You never need to carry more than you can hold,  
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,  
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,  
Jake, Ryder and Joe: Yeah, this, is my wish.  
This is my wish  
I hope you know somebody loves you  
May all your dreams stay big _

At the end of the song, the graduates and seniors applauded again as Mr. Schue came to the front of the room. "Sorry Mr. Schue, we'll have our song ready tomorrow," Sam said.

"I understand," Mr. Schue said. "I just want to say something. We're a team, but the team always has its leaders. For the first three years, the captains and leaders of this group were Finn and Rachel. This year, it was Blaine and Sam. I talked with all the seniors, and we've agreed that next year, we'd like to pass the roles to Ryder and Marley."

Although Rachel didn't know any of the remaining members well, from what Finn had told her, she was sure that this was the right choice. Everyone applauded as Ryder and Marley looked thrilled.

"Wow, thank you," Ryder said.

"I feel so honored," Marley said.

"You should be!" Rachel said. "It is an honor to be the leader of this group."

"You two are going to do a great job, I know it," Finn said.

"And we'll all be watching from New York as you lead the group to kick ass at the competitions!" Blaine said.

x

The next day, the seniors had their song prepared to say goodbye to the glee club. Today was the end of an era. This was the last glee club meeting which members at the first New Directions rehearsal were still going to still be members of the New Directions. The five members who would be graduating came to the front of the room. "We are glad that last year, the seniors didn't do this song," Tina said. "The five of us talked, and we thought this would be the perfect song to sing at our last official glee meeting."

_Blaine: And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives  
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25  
Sam: I keep thinking times will never change  
Keep on thinking things will always be the same  
Artie: But when we leave this year we won't be coming back  
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track  
Tina: And if you got something that you need to say  
You better say it right now cause you don't have another day  
Brittany: Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down  
These memories are playing like a film without sound  
Blaine: And I keep thinking of that night in June  
Sam: I didn't know much of love  
Artie: But it came too soon  
Tina: And there was me and you  
Brittany: And then we got real blue  
Blaine, Sam and Artie: Stay at home talking on the telephone  
And we would get so excited and we'd get so scared  
Tina and Brittany: Laughing at ourselves thinking life's not fair  
And this is how it feels  
New Directions Class of 2013: As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever  
Blaine: So if we get the big jobs  
And we make the big money  
When we look back now  
Will our jokes still be funny?  
Sam: Will we still remember everything we learned in school?  
Still be trying to break every single rule  
Artie: Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?  
Can Heather find a job that won't interfere with her tan?  
Tina: I keep, keep thinking that it's not goodbye  
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly  
Brittany: And this is how it feels  
New Directions Class of 2013: As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever  
Brittany: La, la, la, la  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
La, la, la, la  
New Directions Class of 2013: We will still be friends forever  
Blaine: Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?  
Can we survive it out there?  
Can we make it somehow?  
Sam: I guess I thought that this would never end  
And suddenly it's like we're women and men  
Artie: Will the past be a shadow that will follow us around?  
Will these memories fade when I leave this town  
Tina: I keep, keep thinking that it's not goodbye  
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly  
New Directions Class of 2013: As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever_

Everyone clapped at the end of the song, and the past and present members went up to form a big group hug. Then, like last year, Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Sam, Mercedes, Tina, Mike, Artie, Brittany, Santana, Quinn and Puck went to sit down, leaving Ryder, Marley, Jake, Kitty, Kylie, Unique, Sugar and Joe at the front of the room.

x

Before graduation ceremony the next day, the original six glee girls were in the hall outside the auditorium, chatting as they waited for the graduates to go backstage and the audience to take their seats. "So, after tonight, all six of the original glee girls will officially be McKinley graduates," Rachel said. "I'm glad you're still going to be part of graduation, Brittany."

"Well, I have news for you guys," Brittany said. "I'm not going back to MIT."

"Why not?" Quinn asked.

"Well, I didn't enjoy it," Brittany said. "They expected too much of me and it was too much pressure. I also didn't really like math."

"So what are you doing?" Mercedes asked.

"I don't know," Brittany said.

"Why don't you come to New York with us?" Santana asked. "I originally didn't know what I was going to do there, and neither did Kurt, but we've both been doing well."

That made Rachel wonder what would happen with Santana, Dani and Brittany if Brittany came to New York.

"I'll think about that," Brittany said, smiling.

Becky Jackson came over. "Tina, Brittany, time to go line up."

"You guys have a great graduation," Rachel said, hugging Tina and Brittany. Then she smiled at Becky. "Congratulations on graduating, Becky."

"Thanks, Berry," Becky said before leaving with Tina and Brittany. Then Rachel, Mercedes, Santana and Quinn went to the auditorium to join Finn, Kurt, Mike and Puck. Rachel took a seat between Finn and Kurt.

Pomp and Circumstance began to play as the graduates processed in. After the speeches, the awarding of the diplomas began, and Artie was the first to get his diploma. Blaine came a few names later, and Kurt cheered so loudly, Rachel thought she would need earplugs. Rachel also couldn't help but notice that Mercedes was especially enthusiastic when Sam got his diploma and Mike got very excited when Tina got hers. It was also nice to finally see Brittany getting a diploma. Finally, when the last diploma was awarded, to Lauren Zizes, the Class of 2013 were declared official graduates of William McKinley High School. Finn leaned over to Rachel. "Remember last year when we made out on the graduation stage after we got our diplomas?"

"Of course!" Rachel said. "That was almost as great as our kiss at Nationals!"

_Songs: Seasons of Love from Rent (performed by New Directions Class of 2012), My Wish by Rascall Flatts (performed by New Directions underclassmen) and Friends Forever by Vitamin C (performed by New Directions Class of 2013)_

_Chapter 12 preview: Finn and Blaine move to New York. (Since Artie, Sam and Tina have to live in dorms, they'll arrive in the fall.) Finn adjusts to life in a new city. Rachel tells people that she got the part and has a life changing encounter._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 12!_


	12. Chapter 12: Moving Out

_Hi everyone! Thanks for all the reviews on the last few chapters. To clarify things, I will NOT be getting rid of the New Directions in this story. There are still connections between the New Directions and the New Yorkers, and people will go back to see their performances from time to time. I hope everybody had a great Easter! Enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to continue!_

Chapter 12: Moving Out

"You're really moving," Carole said to Finn as they looked around Finn's bedroom.

"Yeah," Finn said.

"Are you nervous?" Carole asked.

"Yeah," Finn admitted. True, this had almost happened a year ago, but back then, he was so much more sure of everything.

"Finn, there's no need to be nervous," Carole said. "You got into one of the best schools in the country. You're going to be fine. You'll have Rachel, Kurt, Blaine and Santana with you, and Sam, Artie and Tina will be there in the fall too."

"Yeah," Finn said. "I'm going to miss you, Mom."

"I'll miss you too, sweetheart," Carole said. "But remember, DC and New York aren't too far away from each other. When Burt and I are there, you can come visit us."

"Yeah," Finn said. He looked at the boxes all around his room. "Mom, I do have a good feeling about me and Rachel this time."

"So do I," Carole said. "When I saw the way you talked about her, I knew that she was the one. I was even more sure the first time you brought her home."

"Really?" Finn asked. "Then why were you so opposed to us getting married last year?"

"Honey, it wasn't the fact that you two wanted to get married, it was the timing," Carole said. "I think you were rushing things a bit. You're both still so young. It would have been better for you two to go to college and start your careers first."

"I'm not going to ask her to marry me again yet, don't worry Mom," Finn said. "We just got back together."

"That's right," Carole said. "So, the U-Haul should be arriving to pick up your stuff shortly after you and Blaine leave for New York. It should be there soon."

"I'll text you when we get there, Mom," Finn said.

"Before you go, I have something," Carole said. She went to her room and handed Finn a package. "I put together care packages for all five of you."

"Thanks, Mom," Finn said. "I'm really going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, too," Carole said. "You should probably get to Blaine's house soon."

"Yeah," Finn said. He was looking forward to going to New York, but he'd definitely miss his mom.

x

"Are you nervous?" Blaine asked Finn as they sat in the waiting area at the airport.

"Well... yeah," Finn said. "Are you?"

"Yeah," Blaine said. "I mean, Kurt, Rachel and Santana have been there for a year, and you and I are going to just be showing up. The city's so big, and we don't know it."

Finn was glad Blaine had said that because he was afraid to. "Yeah, that's how I feel, too."

"I'm glad you're going to be there," Blaine said. "I mean, I know Sam, Artie and Tina will be there in the fall, but you and I will be getting there at the same time, so I won't be adjusting alone."

"Yeah, that's how I feel," Finn said. "What do you think it's going to be like, living with Rachel and Kurt?"

"Well, living with them's a good thing, I think," Blaine admitted. "It'll give us an idea of what things will be like in the future."

"What things will be like," Finn said. "I like the sound of it."

"Yeah, me too," Blaine agreed.

"Flight 829 to New York boarding," an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

Finn looked at Blaine. "That's us."

"Yup," Blaine said. "We're going to New York."

x

"Rachel, Kurt, I think the apartment's all ready for Finn and Blaine," Santana said.

"I want it to be perfect," Rachel said.

"Finn and Blaine are going to think it's perfect, they're living with you two," Santana told Rachel and Kurt. "You don't have to keep cleaning."

"Rachel, I've lived with Finn before, he'll probably mess it up anyway," Kurt said. His phone vibrated. "Oh, that's Blaine, they're boarding the plane now."

"They'll be here in a few hours!" Rachel said. She was nervous, but she was excited, too.

"Speaking of relationships..." Kurt said, looking at Santana.

"Tonight, I'm going out to dinner with Dani," Santana said, giggling.

"You are?" Rachel asked. "I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Yeah," Santana said.

"Well, now that we're home, there's something I wanted to tell you guys," Rachel said. "I'm going to be the understudy in Funny Girl."

"You are?" Kurt asked. "That's great!"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Santana asked.

"We were in Lima and I wanted to focus on the graduation while we were there," Rachel said.

"So does anyone else know?" Kurt asked.

"I told Finn and my dads," Rachel said. "Finn wanted to tell people, and I think my dads are hoping she can't go on at some point so I can go on for her."

"There's so many shows, she's bound to not be able to go on at some point," Santana said.

"We'll see," Rachel said. "So, Kurt, are you excited for Blaine to move in?"

"Of course," Kurt said.

x

A few hours later, Finn and Blaine's plane touched down in New York. As soon as they got off the plane, Finn was reminded of just how big the New York airport was. There were so many people here, and he could barely move. Would the whole city be like this?

"See them?" Blaine asked Finn.

"No," Finn said. He felt his phone vibrate and looked at it. There was a text from Rachel. "We're at the food court." He turned to Blaine. "They're at the food court."

"Okay," Blaine said. Finn felt better knowing where Rachel and Kurt were. He and Blaine made their way toward the food court and saw Kurt and Rachel sitting at one of the tables. Rachel seemed to see them right away and ran over to embrace Finn.

"Rachel!" Finn said. He felt his nerves going away as soon as he was in her embrace.

"You're here in New York!" Rachel said. "I thought you'd never come here!"

"Well, here I am," Finn said.

"This is amazing," Kurt said as he gave Finn a hug. "All of us together."

"Where's Santana?" Blaine asked.

"She's out on a date with Dani," Kurt said. "Do you two want to head back to the apartment now?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," Finn said. "Our luggage should be arriving soon."

"So, how was the flight?" Kurt asked.

"It was fine," Blaine said. "I'm just glad we're here."

Rachel picked up Finn's bag as they started to leave the airport. Finn turned to Rachel. "You're so chivalrous."

x

"Your first night in New York went okay, right?" Rachel asked Finn as they took a walk through Central Park the next day.

"You know it did," Finn said. He was actually surprised that it was pretty easy to fall asleep at night. Having Rachel to cuddle with had definitely helped. His luggage had arrived late last night, and they'd done some unpacking this morning. Now he and Rachel were just enjoying a walk through Central Park.

"Do you think I could get a job here?" Finn asked. "I mean, everything's so expensive."  
"I'm sure you could," Rachel said. "I might be able to get you a job at the diner."

"I'd like that," Finn said. "So, you're off today?"

"Yeah, I work tomorrow though," Rachel said.

"I'll probably look around for a job tomorrow then," Finn said.

"Finn, there's no rush," Rachel said. "While we're here, want to go to the Central Park zoo?"

"Yeah, that would be fun," Finn said. "Maybe you could get a new animal sweater for your collection."

Rachel giggled and gave Finn a small playful slap. "Only if we want Kurt to tease me."

"Central Park is nice," Finn commented as they walked to the zoo.

"It is," Rachel said. "Before we get to the zoo, can I show you something?"

Finn nodded. "Of course."

Rachel led Finn to the bridge where they'd gone on their first New York date. Rachel led Finn to a spot on the bridge where she'd carved "F+R" into the bridge.

Finn couldn't believe that. "You did that?"

"Yeah," Rachel said. "Sometimes when I missed you, I'd come here."

"That was a pretty amazing night," Finn said.

"One of the best nights ever," Rachel said. "I'm so glad you're here now."

"Yeah, me too," Finn said.

x

Job searching the next day wasn't going how Finn had hoped. It felt like lots of places were full for the summer. He'd done well at the tire shop, but there weren't many tire shops here since so few people had cars. Then Finn noticed something. He passed the theatre where Funny Girl was playing. They needed help in the box office.

But would he get this job? He had picked up applications for other jobs, but working at the theatre where Rachel would be practicing as an understudy would be perfect. He could see her in between her breaks and if she ever got to do a show, he wouldn't have to worry about missing it.

He couldn't help but wonder if the jobs he looked at were turned off by him when he came in and asked about applications. When he went to get an application from Starbucks, he was sure he'd ruined his chances when he dropped his coffee while going out the door.

Moving was always hard. The most drastic move he'd ever made before was when he moved into the new Hudson-Hummel house with his mom, and that was only a few blocks away from his old house. He'd had job security back in Lima both with the glee club and with the tire shop. Here, finding a job would be harder. Yes, he had things he was good at, but he didn't have any out of this world talents like Rachel did...

No. He had to see himself the way Rachel saw him. Things would work out, right?

x

Rachel wished she could have helped Finn look for a job, but she'd already taken one day of work off this week and couldn't take more off. She was pretty tired when she arrived back at the apartment from the diner. Kurt and Santana were both still at work, and Rachel knew that today Finn and Blaine would be looking around for jobs and that they probably wouldn't be home quite yet, so she'd likely be home by herself a while.

Then she heard a knock on the door. She wasn't expecting anyone today, but she figured that since there were five people living at the apartment now, it could be anyone. When she opened the door, she was surprised by who was standing on the other side of the door and even more shocked by what this person said.

"Rachel... I don't think you're going to believe this, but I'm your sister."

_Chapter 13 preview: Rachel and her sister meet each other - or have they met before? The girls deal with finding out the news, and Rachel also tells the news to her roommates. Some unexpected visitors come to New York, but will that make things easier or harder?_


	13. Chapter 13: Sisters

_Hi guys! Thanks so much for all your nice comments on the last chapter. I was pretty excited to post this chapter. Several important arcs of my version of Season 5 begin in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it and review if you want me to keep going!_

Chapter 13: Sisters

"Rachel... I don't think you're going to believe this, but I'm your sister."

Rachel looked across the door. The girl who she'd found in the bathroom and asked to join glee so Finn could have twelve members to take to Nationals, the girl who she'd told Finn to rig the duet competition for, the girl who she'd mentored for Nationals - Kylie was her sister.

What was she supposed to say? They'd met before, but neither of them had any idea this was the case. Rachel noticed that they did look alike, although Kylie's hair was lighter and she had green eyes. "Well, why don't you come in?" Rachel managed to say.

Kylie nodded and came in. Rachel sat down on the couch, and Kylie sat down next to her. After a few moments of silence, Rachel spoke. "How did you find out?"

"I was going through my parents' attic and found adoption papers," Kylie said. "I saw that my birth mother is a woman named Shelby Corcoran and I saw her e-mail address. I used her e-mail address to search for her on Facebook and I saw that you were linked as her daughter on her Facebook page."

Rachel had to smile to herself. Genetics definitely were an interesting thing. That's the type of thing she herself would have done. "Do your parents know?" Rachel managed to ask.

"They don't know," Kylie said. "I always knew I was adopted, but I never knew who my birth parents were. I've always wondered, but I didn't know how to ask."

Rachel knew that feeling all too well. "That's how it was for me with Shelby. I always wondered who my birth mom was, but I didn't know how to ask my dads."

"So, is she like a mom to you now?" Kylie asked.

"Well, we aren't quite where my dads and I are yet," Rachel admitted. "We get together and we talk." Rachel didn't want to tell Kylie about what had happened when she first met Shelby. What if Shelby did the same thing to Kylie?

"I'd like to meet her," Kylie said. "Do you think that she could do that?"

Kylie was a lot more shy than Rachel had been when Shelby and Rachel first met. Rachel could tell that she could easily be much more hurt. Should she tell Shelby first? Even though she'd just found out that Kylie was her sister, the big sister instincts were already kicking in. No older sibling wanted to see their younger sibling hurt. Before Rachel knew that Kylie was her sister, she knew that she loved her sister, whoever and wherever she was. "Well, how long are you in town?"

"I'm here for another two weeks," Kylie said. "I'm doing a photography camp at NYU."

"I think Shelby is on vacation this week," Rachel said. She didn't know what to say. If Kylie was here for another two weeks, that would give her time to think about what would be the right thing to do. "I'll give her a call." She paused. "If it means anything, I know she wants to meet you. She told me that she had another daughter who she gave up for adoption. She said she was wondering who that other daughter is."

"So she still cares about me?" Kylie asked.

"Of course she does," Rachel said. "I know this isn't an easy situation, and I'm glad you felt comfortable coming to me." She knew that she'd be the one in the middle of all of this, the support pillar for both Shelby and Kylie, and it was a bit overwhelming.

"I'm sorry," Kylie said. "My whole life I've wondered who my birth mother is, and I never knew I had a sister. I got your address from Tina but I didn't tell her why I wanted it."

"Look, you don't have to worry," Rachel said. What was she supposed to say right now? All she wanted was to make sure Kylie was okay. She remembered how shocked she was when she found out her mother's identity. Not only was Kylie discovering her birth mother's identity, at the same time, she was discovering her sister's identity. "I do want you to know something. When Shelby told me that she had another daughter, that I had a sister, I knew that whoever that sister was, I loved her and I wanted to meet her. I always wanted a brother or sister growing up."

Kylie smiled at Rachel. "Yeah, so did I. My parents tried, but they just couldn't have kids. They thought about adopting another kid, but they said the process was pretty long with me." The girls sat there for a few moments before Kylie spoke again. "So, when's Shelby getting back?"

"I'll call her," Rachel said. She wanted to make Kylie comfortable. This was a lot to take in at fifteen. She remembered her intensive therapy sessions after Shelby said she wasn't Rachel's mother and didn't want to see someone else go through the same thing. "Are you enjoying New York?"

"Yeah, it's nice," Kylie said. "There's lots of cool things to take photos of."

"So you're a photographer?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Kylie said. "I was on the Thunderclap staff at McKinley this year."

"That's really cool," Rachel said. "I always tried to be in the most photos out of anyone in the Thunderclap when I was at McKinley. I'd join as many clubs as possible just for the sake of being in the photos for the yearbook. I thought it was practice for being photographed by the paparazzi."

"I heard you're going to be the understudy in Funny Girl," Kylie said.

"Yeah, I am," Rachel said. "It's not the part I always dreamed I'd have, but it's something."

"What's she like?" Kylie asked. "My birth mother - our birth mother?"

"She's the most talented person I've ever heard," Rachel said. "I guess that's where I get it, and where you get it. She and I get together for dinner and stuff like that every now and she gives me advice a lot for my singing."

"She has another daughter?" Kylie asked. "Besides you and me? One who she actually kept?"

"Well, her other daughter isn't her birth daughter," Rachel said. "Her other daughter is actually Puck and Quinn's birth daughter."

"Really?" Kylie asked. "The same Puck and Quinn who were in glee with you?"

"Yeah," Rachel said.

"Wow," Kylie said.

"Are you hungry or anything?" Rachel asked. "I can get you something to eat." Kylie seemed to be okay now, but it was easy to tell that she was in shock. Rachel was too. She'd met this girl a few months ago and had no idea that they were sisters.

"Yeah, thanks Rachel. Do you have any ice cream?" Kylie asked.

Rachel nodded. "I do. What flavor would you like? My favorite's strawberry."

Kylie looked surprised. "That's mine, too."

"Wow," Rachel admitted. She scooped some ice cream and gave some to Kylie. "I'm sorry that I seem tired. I just got back from work and it was a long day."

"Don't worry," Kylie said. "It took me a while to find your apartment. I'm sorry I just showed up - I really want to get to know you, and to meet Shelby, and that stuff. I'm sorry, I just always wanted a sister and I've always wanted to know my birth mother."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Rachel said. "It's like I told you, ever since Shelby told me I had a sister, I wanted to know her. I didn't think I ever would."

Kylie's phone started going off. "That's my alarm, I have to head back to NYU. Would you - maybe mind walking me to the train station? New York's big and it's kind of hard to find a way around?"

"Yeah, of course," Rachel said. She remembered how overwhelming New York had been for her at first. "So, you have another class at your camp?"

"Yeah," Kylie said.

The girls walked quietly to the train station together. The streets of New York weren't a place to have conversations about something so personal and intimate. Rachel couldn't help but wonder, was Kylie okay? Was she disappointed that she couldn't meet Shelby, or that Rachel was her sister? When they got to the train station, Rachel turned to Kylie. "So, maybe we could go to lunch or something before you leave New York?"

"Yeah," Kylie said. "I'd like that. And I have your number from when you were my mentor for Nationals."

"That's right," Rachel said. "You be careful, okay? New York's pretty easy to get lost in."

"I will," Kylie said as they approached the train station. Then she turned to Rachel, almost looking nervous. "Can I have a hug before I go?"

Rachel smiled. "Of course." She walked over to her sister and hugged her close. Having a hug from her sister was something she'd wanted since she'd found out she had a sister. When they pulled apart, Rachel watched Kylie leave and headed back to the apartment.

She knew now. She knew who her sister was. Had she said the right things to Kylie? She didn't know how to be a sibling. She'd always wanted one, but she didn't know how to do it.

Rachel fell backwards on to the couch when she heard the apartment door open. She looked up and saw Finn. "Rach, I got a job!" Finn said.

Rachel forced a smile. "That's great, Finn. Where will you be working at?"

"I got a job at a law firm," Finn said. "I'll be working the front desk, answering phones, checking in clients, delivering the mail, things like that. They're having me work mornings, so I can schedule my classes in the afternoon."

Rachel was happy for Finn. "See, I told you you'd find a job."

Finn sat down next to Rachel. "What's up, Rach? Something doesn't look right." He kissed the top of Rachel's head.

Rachel knew she couldn't fool Finn. "Finn, she came by today."

Finn looked confused. "Who?"

Then Rachel remembered she hadn't told Finn yet. She'd only told Kurt and Santana. "My sister. I know this is going to sound complicated, but a few months ago, Shelby told me that she had another daughter a few years after she had me and she also gave that daughter up for adoption. Today she showed up at our apartment."

Finn looked shocked. "What's her name? Where's she from?"

Rachel looked at Finn. "You know her. Her name is Kylie, she goes to McKinley and she's in New Directions. She's at a photography camp at NYU right now."

"Oh my gosh," Finn said. "Are you okay? Kylie's great, but it's a lot to take in."

"Yeah, I'm okay, I'm just stunned," Rachel admitted.

Finn gave Rachel a hug. "Well, how did she find out?"

"She looked Shelby up online and saw on Facebook that I'm listed as Shelby's daughter," Rachel said. "She wants to meet Shelby, but I don't know if that's a good idea. You know what happened when I first met Shelby."

"Well, have you told Kylie about that?" Finn asked.

"No," Rachel said. "She's young. She's shy and insecure. I was so self-confident back then and I was destroyed by what happened. I don't know what would happen to her if something similar happened."

"Maybe you should tell Shelby," Finn suggested.

Rachel sighed. "Maybe. Finn, Shelby doesn't even know Kylie's name. She doesn't know where Kylie lives now. The adoption agency gave her information to Kylie's adoptive parents, but they haven't contacted her. Shelby and I aren't even quite there yet. I still call her Shelby instead of Mom."

"That's true," Finn said. "I just - I guess I can't believe it. I've known her for months and I didn't know that she was your sister..."

"None of us knew," Rachel said. "Did she ever even mention she was adopted?"

"No," Finn said. "Well, not to me. She hung out with the other girls, so maybe she mentioned it to one of them."

"Maybe the universe knew that we had to meet," Rachel said. "I mean, I'm the one who found her for glee club, and we were paired up for Nationals. I just - I can't believe I didn't know such an important thing about myself for so long. I wasn't an only child, I had a sister. We were just raised by different families."

Finn and Rachel heard the door open and looked up as Kurt, Santana and Blaine came in. "I still don't have a job yet," Blaine complained.

Rachel tried to take her mind off things. "Don't worry, you'll find one."

"Are you okay, Rachel?" Kurt asked. "You definitely don't look okay."

Rachel looked at Finn. She didn't feel up to explaining everything. Finn seemed to know what Rachel's look meant, and he told Kurt, Blaine and Santana about Rachel's encounter earlier today.

"Holy crap," Santana said. "When you told us you had a sister, I thought that it was someone out there who you had no idea existed. I didn't think it was going to be someone we already knew."

"Yeah," Rachel said. "I've sort of known her for months without knowing that she's my sister. It's going to take some getting used to."

"Wait, they knew you had a sister?" Finn asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said. "I told them when Shelby first told me. I just didn't want to take your mind off Nationals."

"I'm not mad at you," Finn said as Rachel sighed with relief.

"Good," Rachel said. "I do feel bad. I always wanted a sibling, and she did too, but we missed so many years together."

"It's not too late, don't worry," Kurt said. "Finn and I were older than she is now when our parents got married, and now it's like we grew up together."

"Yeah, don't worry, Rachel," Blaine said. "It's all going to be okay."

"It's just a lot to take in," Rachel said. "She wants to meet Shelby, but you guys know what happened when I first met Shelby. I don't want that to happen to her."

Before anyone could say anything else, the group heard a knock on the door. Santana went to answer it, and Rachel looked up and saw Puck and Quinn. "Hey guys!" Finn said.

Rachel managed to smile. "Hey! What are you guys doing here?"

"We got our apartment in New Haven, so we thought we'd come here to visit," Puck said.

"It's great to see you guys," Santana said.

"So, how's New York?" Quinn asked.

"I love it," Blaine said. "Still trying to find a summer job."

"Finn got one," Rachel said proudly, trying to take her mind off things.

"You did, huh?" Puck asked Finn.

"Yeah," Finn said proudly. Rachel happily linked her arm with Finn's, she was really happy for him.

"So, Rachel, you're the understudy," Quinn said. "When do you start rehearsals?"

"I think Rachel has too much on her mind right now to think about rehearsals," Santana said. "Today she found out that Kylie from New Directions is her sister. Shelby gave birth to both of them and gave them both up for adoption."

"Wait, what?" Puck asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said. "When I saw Shelby a while back, she told me that she had another daughter who she gave up for adoption. I found out that Kylie's that other daughter."

Quinn looked shocked. "Wait, you still see Shelby?"

"Shelby's Rachel's mother, why shouldn't she see her?" Finn asked.

"Have you met Beth?" Quinn asked Rachel, looking more concerned.

"Not yet," Rachel said. "Shelby wants me to though."

Quinn looked down. "I haven't seen Beth since Shelby left Lima last year. I don't think she'll let me see Beth again, after what happened."

"You should see if she'll let you," Rachel said. "I could talk to her for you if you want."

"It doesn't matter," Quinn said, looking upset. "I'm not Beth's mother, Shelby is. It just sucks that you're going to get to meet her, and Kylie's probably going to get to meet her too."

"Does it bother you?" Santana asked Quinn. "That Rachel and Kylie are Beth's sisters, and they might have more of a relationship with Beth than you do?"

"No," Quinn said, looking defensive. "Rachel and Kylie are not Beth's sisters. They aren't Shelby's daughters, just like I'm not Beth's mother. She handed them off to their real parents and she's really just a stranger to Rachel and Kylie. Her only daughter is Beth."

"Okay," Rachel said. She didn't know what else to say. She always had wanted a mother, but maybe Quinn was right. It was like she told Kylie, she and Shelby really had more of a friendship than a mother-daughter relationship. As if Finn could tell Rachel was upset, he put his arm around her. Rachel snuggled up to Finn.

"Quinn, you don't have to feel that way," Puck said. "We are Beth's parents, just in a different way than Shelby is. We gave birth to her, that's something Shelby didn't do. We have a special connection with her." He took Quinn's hand.

Quinn looked ready to break down. "Yeah, but that's it. Shelby's the one who gets to do everything else, and I completely ruined everything."

"Quinn..." Puck began.

"Let's go, Puck," Quinn said, taking Puck's hand. "We shouldn't have come here."

Now Rachel felt worse. She didn't want to hurt Quinn. She'd been concerned about Kylie getting hurt, but the one thing she hadn't really thought about in this situation was that Quinn and Puck could get hurt, too.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Finn said to Rachel. "Everything's going to work out, for you, for Kylie, for Shelby, for Quinn and Puck and Beth."

Rachel sighed. "I hope so."

_Chapter 14 preview: Rachel tells Shelby that Kylie knows the truth and also tries to talk to Quinn. Finn starts his job - will things go well for him there?_

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 14!_


	14. Chapter 14: Suspicions

_Hi everyone! Thanks as always for all your reviews on Chapter 13. I really enjoyed reading them. Just a warning, this chapter begins an arc that will deal with a sensitive issue. I will post warnings as the issue develops, but I do plan to deal with the sensitive issue as well as I can. Anyway, this chapter includes the arcs I have planned for the next few chapters for both Finn and Rachel that will involve other gleeks as well. Thanks so much for your support and review if you want me to continue._

Chapter 14: Suspicions

Rachel knocked on the door at Shelby's townhouse. She was still a bit overcome by her encounter with Kylie. She knew something though - this wasn't the type of thing she should tell Shelby over the phone. She wanted to tell Shelby face to face. She'd called Shelby a few hours ago and asked if she could come over. This was definitely a first, going to Shelby's townhouse. In the past when Rachel and Shelby had gotten together, it had been in public places. Rachel had never even met Beth before, and she had a feeling this would be a challenge, seeing her birth mother with the daughter she was raising instead of having raised her. Still, it was better for her to meet Beth now rather than deal with it for the first time when and if she brought Kylie to meet Shelby.

Shelby came to the door. "Hi Rachel."

"Hi Shelby," Rachel said. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Shelby said, leading Rachel inside. Shelby led Rachel into the living room, where a little blond curly haired girl was playing with some toys on the floor.

"Is that her?" Rachel said softly.

"Yes," Shelby said, smiling. "This is Beth."

Beth looked up. "Beth, this is Rachel," Shelby said. "She's - "

"A friend of your mommy's," Rachel said, not knowing what else to say.

Beth gave Rachel a smile. "Hi. You're pretty."

"Thank you," Rachel said. "So are you." Rachel couldn't believe how much Beth looked like both Puck and Quinn. She understood now why they missed her so much.

"I'm glad you could come over, Rachel," Shelby said. "I kept wanting to have you over, but we are both pretty busy people."

"Yeah," Rachel said. She knew she had to tell Shelby eventually. She didn't know if Shelby would want to, but she did know that Kylie wanted to meet Shelby. "Your house is nice."

"Thank you," Shelby said.

Now Rachel had to say something. She took out her phone and showed Shelby a photo of her and Kylie at Nationals (she'd wanted a photo with the girl she'd mentored). "Shelby, this is her."

Shelby looked at Rachel with a surprised look. "Her?"

"Your other daughter," Rachel said. "Her name is Kylie and she's going to be a sophomore at McKinley this fall."

Shelby stared at the photo. "Oh my God... Rachel... how did..."

"Well, I've actually known Kylie for a few months now," Rachel said. "I actually recruited her for New Directions when I went back to help out at one point, and I also mentored her for Nationals. She's here in New York for two weeks doing a photography camp at NYU, and she came to my apartment yesterday and told me that she found your name on adoption papers she found at her adoptive parents' house and then searched for you on Facebook. She saw that I'm linked as your daughter."

Shelby was still staring at the photo. "Wow, she's beautiful."

"She is beautiful," Rachel said.

"All three of my girls are beautiful," Shelby said. "So, you told me that she's in New Directions?"

"Yeah," Rachel said. "She enjoys it, but she's not into solos like I was."

Shelby gave Rachel a small smile. "You said she's here in New York for photography camp?"

"Yeah," Rachel said. "She's a really good photographer. I was looking at the photos she's taken on her Facebook. She's amazing."

"Wow," Shelby said. "I can't believe you two met each other."

"Ever since you told me that you had another daughter, I really wanted to meet her," Rachel said. "We're both shocked, and it's taking some getting used to, but we definitely want to build a sister relationship. She wants to meet you, too."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Rachel," Shelby said.

Rachel had hoped this wouldn't happen, but she feared it would, which was why she wanted to talk to Shelby before bringing Kylie to meet her. "Why not?"

"It's a very different situation from what happened with you and me," Shelby explained. "I knew from the beginning that I was going to give you up. I didn't like it, but I'd signed that contract, and once I became pregnant with you, there was no turning back. Kylie is the product of a drunken one-night stand. After your dads paid me enough to live in New York for two years and I still failed as an actress, I felt completely worthless. I'd lost my daughter and my dreams. I became completely lost and turned to alcohol. I became pregnant with Kylie after a drunken party, and I'm not even sure who her birth father is. I wanted to keep her, but I couldn't. I wasn't in the right state of mind to raise a baby by myself."

"Shelby, I doubt Kylie will judge you for that," Rachel said. "She wants to meet you."

"It's not just that," Shelby said. "You were raised by your two dads, so even though we didn't know each other, you still saw me as your mom. Kylie has a mother who raised her. She sees that woman as her mother."

"I don't think that stops her from wanting to meet you," Rachel said. She didn't know how she was going to break it to Kylie if Shelby didn't want to meet her.

"I'll think about it," Shelby said. "You said she's here for another two weeks?"

"Yeah," Rachel said. "I didn't know if you'd be ready right away, so I told her that you were out of town just in case."

"Thanks, Rachel," Shelby said.

"I also saw Puck and Quinn the other day," Rachel said. "Quinn was asking about you."

"Rachel, do you know what happened with Quinn?" Shelby asked. "Quinn put some books that I didn't think could even get published about baby sacrifice, some botulism, and a bottle of hot sauce with Beth's name on it around the house and then she called child protective services. She was trying to get Beth taken away."

"I know about that, and that was wrong," Rachel said. "It's been a while though. Quinn's grown up. I really hope you give her another chance. I know she and Puck would love to see Beth again."

"I'll think about that, Rachel," Shelby said. "And I'll think about meeting Kylie, too. I'll give you a call, okay?"

"Okay," Rachel said. She hoped things would work out. She sent a text to Kylie, telling her that she and Shelby were trying to work something out.

x

"You look sexy," Rachel said to Finn.

"Oh, you think?" Finn asked. It was his first day on the job, and the law firm required him to wear a suit and tie. He rather would have been working at the diner with Rachel, or at the box office at Rachel's theatre, but the law firm had offered him a job and he needed one.

"You do," Rachel said. "I work at the diner today, but maybe we could meet up for lunch?"

"I'd love that," Finn said.

"How are you doing?" Rachel asked.

Finn knew Rachel could tell that he wasn't feeling quite right. "I am a little nervous." This was the first time he'd had a real job without connections. Burt had gotten him the job at the tire shop and Mr. Schue had gotten him the job as assisting New Directions. This job, he'd gotten all on his own.

"Your shifts are only five hours," Rachel reminded Finn. "After your shift, we can get lunch together."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Finn said.

"You have your ID, right?" Rachel asked.

"Of course," Finn said.

Rachel gave Finn a kiss. "You'll be great today."

"Maybe could you walk with me to the building?" Finn asked.

"Of course," Rachel said. She took Finn's hand as they walked to the train station, then arrived at the building where Finn would be working. "You're going to be great," Rachel said.

Finn gave Rachel a hug. "Thanks. See you after my shift." He went into the building and scanned his ID before going to the law firm's offices on the 34th floor. When he arrived, he saw the human resources director of the law firm. "Hi, Finn."

"Hi," Finn said.

"I wanted to say welcome to your first official day at our firm," the human resources director said. "You know how your job works, right?"

"Yeah, we went over that at my interview," Finn said. "I'll answer the phones and when clients come in, I'll page the person they're here to see. When the mail comes, I'll sort it and deliver it to the respective offices." That was easy enough, wasn't it?

"That's right," the human resources manager said. "Once you start school, you can do your homework here during slow periods. I put a printout of everyone's office number on your desk so you can figure things out when the mail comes."

"Thanks," Finn said as he took his seat at the desk. There were over 20 lawyers who worked here, all their offices in one hall. Before long, he should know where everyone's office was. Maybe this job wouldn't be too hard after all. And he did get to sit all day.

A few minutes later, a young woman, maybe in her late 20s or early 30s came in. She was wearing high heels and a very short skirt, something Finn thought wasn't the best thing to wear at a law firm. She looked at Finn for a little too long.

"Hi," Finn said.

"Hi," the woman said. "What happened to the girl who used to work the front desk?"

"She quit, I guess," Finn said. "I'm Finn, I'll be working the front desk Monday through Friday morning from now on."

The woman continued eyeing Finn. "I see. I'm Lucy. I'm the only lawyer here who's under 25."

"Nice to meet you," Finn said, trying to give this woman a hint that he was ready for her to go. He'd just met her, but she was already giving him a weird vibe. The way she was looking at Finn was not a way he'd been looked at before, and he didn't like it.

"Well, I guess I should get to my office," Lucy said after a few moments. "It was nice meeting you too, Finn."

Finn already knew he didn't trust this woman. As she began heading back to her office, she slightly tripped and bumped into Finn, using his leg to catch herself.

"What was that for?" Finn asked.

"I just tripped, you don't need to get upset." She headed back to her office, and Finn now knew for sure that he didn't like her.

x

"How's Finn?" Kurt asked Rachel at the diner.

"Oh, he was nervous about going to work and starting his new job today, but I'm sure he'll be great," Rachel said.

"Oh, I know he will," Kurt said. "By the way, during my break I got a text from Blaine. He got a job as a barista at Starbucks!"

"That's amazing!" Rachel said.

Santana and Dani came over to Rachel and Kurt, hand in hand. "So, how's Frankenteen doing at his new job?" Santana asked Rachel.

"I was telling Kurt, he was nervous this morning, but I'm sure he'll be fine," Rachel said. She noticed that Dani and Santana were hand in hand. "So, are you two together now?"

"Yes," Dani said.

"I'm happy for you guys, but does Brittany know, Santana?" Kurt asked.

"Lady Hummel, does she HAVE to know?" Santana asked. "I just want to have fun. And Dani's awesome."

"Well, I'm happy for you, Santana," Rachel said. She had liked Dani during their time at the diner.

Then Finn came to the diner. Rachel was happy to see him, but at the same time, she noticed that something didn't look right. "Hey!" Rachel said, giving Finn a hug. "How was your first day at work?"

Finn gave Rachel a small smile. "Rude clients, but other than that, it was good."

"That's good," Rachel said. "How about a snack?"

Finn sat down. "Okay."

"I'm sorry that some of the clients were rude to you today, Finn," Rachel said. "What did they do?"

"One of them made a comment about my body when the person they were supposed to meet with," Finn said.

Rachel wished people would stop trying to make Finn feel bad about himself. "Finn, if that happens again, call me and I'll come put them in their place," Rachel said.

"I value my job, Rach," Finn said.

"Well, I value your self esteem," Rachel said.

"Rachel, get back to work!" their boss called.

Rachel gave Finn a quick kiss. "I'll get your food for you. See you soon."

x

Maybe Finn was looking too much into things. He hadn't seen Lucy since she first arrived that morning. If she really was going to bother him, she probably would have gone out of her way to see him, right?

"Is this seat taken?" Finn turned and saw Puck standing next to Finn's seat at the bar.

Finn shook his head. "Sit down. Where's Quinn?"

Puck sat down. "She's just doing some sightseeing today. I'm sorry about what happened the other day..."

Finn knew that Rachel had been hurt by what Quinn had said. "Well, Rachel's mother issues are kind of her soft spot. She and Shelby aren't quite there yet, but she wants a mother. And now that she's found out that there's a sister in the picture, that complicates the family situation even more."

"Yeah," Puck said. "Well, Beth's for Quinn what Shelby is for Rachel. Quinn told me she wanted to keep Beth, but she didn't think that she could give Beth what she needed. I always wanted to keep her, but I knew that we couldn't give her what we needed to give her. We were both still in school and my pool cleaning business was only really bringing in money during the summer. I could tell when Quinn was pregnant that she was trying to distance herself from Beth, but when I saw her with Beth the day she was born, I could tell how much she loved Beth. Then of course, there was everything that happened senior year of high school. I'm still in contact with Shelby and she sends me photos now and then, but Shelby hasn't contacted Quinn since everything that happened senior year. I think Quinn wants Shelby to be the one to contact her because she feels bad about everything that happened."

"It's okay," Finn said. "I don't know what type of situation you two were in." He did know that he was feeling very conflicted when he thought that Beth was his. He definitely loved her, but he knew that he wasn't ready to be a father, and he knew that he loved Rachel and that Quinn loved Puck.

"So, how was your first day at work?" Puck asked.

"It was good," Finn said. It had been easy enough. He got to sit, which was definitely an improvement over being on his feet at the tire shop all day. He'd met a few of the other people who worked at the firm and other than the one girl who made him uncomfortable, they seemed nice enough.

"That's good," Puck said. "Maybe you, me and Blaine could go to a Yankees game or something like that before I go to Connecticut?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," Finn said.

x

Rachel was making dinner for herself and Finn when her phone vibrated. She looked at the phone and it was Shelby. She read Shelby's text. "I've been thinking and it would be nice to meet Kylie. Maybe give her a call and see when would work. The three of us could have lunch or something."

Rachel sent Shelby back a text. "Okay, I'll give Kylie a call and see what works." She did want to wait a few days. She hadn't gotten a good feeling when she'd first told Shelby about Kylie. She sent Kylie a text, telling her that sometime next week, Shelby would like to have lunch with them. Kylie didn't text back right away, and Rachel had a feeling that meant she was in a class.

Finn came into the kitchen. "So, how'd it go with Shelby?"

"She wants to meet Kylie," Rachel said. "I'm going to try to work something out. I am going to wait a few days though, because I want to give Shelby some time to adjust to the idea." Speaking of Shelby, she'd seen Puck at the diner with Finn. "I saw Puck at the diner with you."

"Yeah," Finn said. "He feels bad about what Quinn said to you. I think he thinks it's Quinn's way of covering her pain."

"I could try to talk to her," Rachel said. She picked up her phone and dialed Quinn's number, but Quinn didn't answer. When Quinn didn't answer, she sent Quinn a text. "Quinn, I talked to Shelby today. Would you like me to ask her if we can arrange a time for you to see Beth?"

Rachel got a text back. "Are you shoving it in my face that you might get to see Beth and I can't?"

Rachel sighed. "Don't you understand? I want you to get to know Beth!"

"Well, Shelby's not going to let me," Quinn texted back. "Don't bother, Rachel. I know she still e-mails Puck but not me. I ruined everything."

"I'll try to work something out," Rachel texted Quinn back before her phone went off with a text from Kylie. Kylie wanted to meet up with Shelby sometime next week. Rachel sent Shelby a text, asking what day would work for her. She just hoped that the tangled family ties wouldn't get more tangled.

_Chapter 15: Rachel, Kylie and Shelby have lunch, and Finn continues to get suspicious that things aren't right at his job._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 15!_


	15. Chapter 15: Not Okay

_Hi everyone! Thanks a lot for all your reviews on Chapter 14. It was a lot of fun to write. I'm so glad that you guys are still reading this. In the past year, I've seen a lot fewer Finchel fics :( So I'm glad people are still reading them! Anyway, enjoy the chapter and review if you want me to continue._

_WARNING: There is some sensitive content in this chapter. I may bump the rating up to M. Not sure yet._

Chapter 15: Not Okay

"Can you stay at the house with me?" Kylie asked Rachel as they walked down the street to Shelby's house. "I just... I'd like to have you with me."

"Of course," Rachel said. Even though the girls had just found out that they were sisters, they had bonded at Nationals, so a bond was already there. There wasn't anything yet for Shelby and Kylie.

"So this is where our mother lives?" Kylie asked Rachel as they stood in front of Shelby's townhouse.

"Yeah," Rachel said. "I've only been here once before, but she has a pretty nice house." She looked at her sister. "Are you okay?"

"What if she doesn't like me, Rachel?" Kylie asked. "I mean, I'm not saying I don't love my other mom, and my dad. I always have wondered about my birth parents though."

"That's natural," Rachel said. She still hadn't told Kylie about her first meeting with Shelby. She didn't want to. "No matter what happens today, I'm going to be here for you," Rachel told Kylie before she rang the bell.

Shelby came to the door. When she opened the door, she looked a little shocked and stared at Kylie. "Shelby, this is Kylie..."

"Hi," Kylie said quietly. "Nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Shelby said. "How about you girls come in?"

"Of course," Rachel said, following Shelby inside.

Beth was playing in the living room. "Beth, you might remember Rachel," Shelby said. "And this is Kylie."

Beth smiled up at the two girls. "Hi!"

"Hi Beth," Rachel said.

"We're your big sisters," Kylie said. Rachel was surprised that Kylie had said that, and Shelby looked surprised, too.

"I have sisters?" Beth asked, giving Shelby a surprised looking.

Shelby nodded. "You do."

"They're pretty, Mommy," Beth said to Shelby. "They look like you."

"They do, don't they?" Shelby asked.

Rachel sat down on the couch, and Kylie sat down next to Rachel. "I never thought this would happen," Shelby said. "All three of you together."

This sounded promising, didn't it? Rachel looked at Kylie, who looked a little uncertain. Finally, Kylie spoke. "So, Rachel said you adopted Beth?"

"Yes," Shelby said. "She was Quinn and Puck's birth daughter."

Rachel, Kylie and Shelby sat quietly in Shelby's living room for a few moments before Shelby spoke. "So, Rachel tells me you're in New Directions?"

"Yeah," Kylie said. "That's how we met. Rachel and I met in the bathroom and she asked me if I wanted to join."

"That sounds like something Rachel would do," Shelby said.

"So you were a show choir director too?" Kylie asked Shelby.

"I was," Shelby said. "For a while I was the director of Vocal Adrenaline."

"They've gone completely downhill since you stopped coaching them, Shelby," Rachel said. "They didn't even make it to Nationals this year."

"They didn't?" Shelby asked. "Wow, they really have gone downhill." She turned back to Kylie. "I was the coach of another glee club at McKinley too, during Rachel's senior year."

"There were enough kids interested for two glee clubs?" Kylie asked. "We're like, the bottom of the social ladder."

"Well, no," Shelby admitted. "New Directions rejected this girl named Sugar, and her dad gave a bunch of money to the school to have me start a second glee club."

"Wow," Kylie said.

"Yeah," Shelby said.

"Why did you give Rachel and me up?" Kylie asked. "Why didn't you want us?"

Rachel hadn't seen Kylie so confrontational before. She already thought this wouldn't go well.

"I did want you two," Shelby said. "Rachel's dads paid me to have Rachel for them. They had me sign a contract saying I wouldn't contact her until she was eighteen. I wanted to be a part of her life, but her dads seemed to want it to just be the three of them. And I got pregnant with you when I was young and my life was kind of a mess. I wanted to keep you, but I couldn't. I didn't even know who your father was."

"You don't know who my dad is?" Kylie asked.

"I know who your dad is," Shelby said. "Your dad is the man who's been taking care of you the past fifteen years. I don't know who your birth father is though."

"I was drunk the night I got pregnant with you," Shelby said. "I was already missing Rachel so much that I thought it would be better if I didn't know where you were or who you were with. That doesn't mean I stopped wondering about you."

"Well, we're here now, Shelby, we both are," Rachel said. "Kylie's going to be in New York for a little more."

"You're here for a photography camp, Rachel told me?" Shelby asked.

"Yeah," Kylie said. "I really like photography."

"That's nice," Shelby said.

"Mom - " Kylie began. Now Rachel knew this wasn't going to do well. She'd called Shelby Mom once and she had a feeling Shelby hadn't liked it. After three years, she still wasn't calling Shelby Mom.

"Can you call me Shelby?" Shelby asked.

"But you ARE my mom," Kylie protested.

"No, I'm not," Shelby said. "I gave birth to you, but it's like when you asked about your dad, the woman who's been taking care of you for the past fifteen years is your mom."

Rachel looked at Kylie, who just looked confused. Now she felt like she should say something. "It's not like what everyone else has, but it's still something."

"Girls, maybe I shouldn't have revealed myself to you two," Shelby said. "It's not easy to see these two women sitting across from me, knowing that they could have been mine, and knowing that they're not. You aren't the babies who were inside me for nine months."

So now she was saying she was sorry that she knew who the two girls who'd come out of her body were? "I really thought that by now you wouldn't feel that way," Rachel said. Had the time they'd spent together in New York meant nothing to Shelby?

Kylie looked at Rachel. "What do you mean?"

"The first time I met her, she told me that she wasn't my mom and that we should just, and I quote, 'be grateful for one another from afar,'" Rachel told Kylie.

"Aren't you girls happy with your families back home?" Shelby asked. "Looking across from me, I see two young women who are who they are today because of the people who raised them."

"Yeah, I'm happy, but I want the woman who gave birth to me in my life, too!" Kylie said.

"I'm the same way," Rachel said. "It doesn't have to be all or nothing."

"Girls..." Shelby began.

Rachel wasn't about to let Kylie go through what she'd been through three years ago. At least, she was going to do her best to keep it from happening. "I think Kylie and I should go now."

"Don't!" Shelby said.

"She's my sister," Rachel said. "And even though we were raised by different people, we're still family. And that means something, to me anyway. And I really don't want her to go through what I went through three years ago."

"Yeah, I think we should go," Kylie said.

Rachel got up and left the house with Kylie. When they were outside, Kylie turned to Rachel. "Well, that didn't go very well."

"It didn't," Kylie said.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about that," Rachel said. "I really thought, especially since she and I have been seeing each other, that she wouldn't act the way with you that she acted with me three years ago."

"Maybe I shouldn't have asked to meet her," Kylie said quietly.

"Hey," Rachel said. "For what it's worth, I'm really glad I found out we're sisters."

"So am I," Kylie said.

"Want to maybe come to my apartment for a little?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Kylie said. "Rachel, when you first met Shelby, did you tell your dads about what she did?"

"Yeah," Rachel said. "I had to go to therapy."

"I don't know why she doesn't seem to want us," Kylie said. "I mean, I love my mom and dad, but I want my birth mother in my life, too."

Rachel knew what Kylie meant. As much as she loved her dads, she always had longed for a mom as well. She had to admit, even though she and Shelby had been growing closer lately, it was more of a friendship or a mentor type of relationship than a mother-daughter relationship. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen."

"I guess in a way she's right," Kylie said. "Rachel, I know this is going to sound dumb, but I want my mom. And I don't mean Shelby."

"Hey," Rachel said, giving Kylie a hug. "It's okay. How about we call your hall at NYU and tell them you're not feeling well, so you're going to spend the rest of the day at my place?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," Kylie said.

"Maybe we should wait until your parents come to pick you up to tell them about Shelby," Rachel said. "It's going to be a lot for them to take in. I can talk to them with you if you want."

"Thank you," Kylie said.

The girls walked back to the apartment, where Kurt, Santana and Blaine were sitting in the living room watching TV.

"Hey guys," Kurt said. "We're watching Gilmore Girls."

"That's a really good show," Kylie said.

"I know, isn't it?" Kurt said. "I still can't get Blaine into it."

"Remember when you returned those DVDs I sent you?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"Yes, but I didn't know that's what was in the box," Kurt said.

"So, how did things go with your mom?" Santana asked Rachel and Kylie.

Rachel looked at Kylie. "Not so well. It was pretty similar to what happened after my first meeting with Shelby."

"It sucks when stuff like that happens, doesn't it?" Santana asked Kylie.

"Yeah," Kylie said. "It does."

"When I told my grandmother I was a lesbian, she told me to leave the house and that she didn't ever want to see me again," Santana said. "I haven't seen or talked to her since."

"Shouldn't our families love and accept us for who we are?" Kylie asked.

"Yeah, they should," Blaine said. "Rach, Finn seemed upset after work. How about you go check on him? He said he wanted to be alone in your guys' room. The three of us will entertain your sister."

Finn seemed upset? She hoped everything was okay. "Okay," Rachel agreed. She walked down the hall and knocked on the doorway of her and Finn's room. "Finn, baby? It's Rach."

"Hey, Rach," Finn said, giving Rachel a small smile.

Rachel knew that wasn't a real smile. She knew Finn. The fact that he was lying on the bed definitely wasn't very Finn-ish either. Rachel sat next to him. "Finn, what's wrong?"

"I'm tired," Finn said.

Tired? Was he getting sick? Rachel put her hand on Finn's forehead. "You don't feel hot."

"I didn't say I was sick, Rach, I'm just tired," Finn said.

Rachel knew Finn. She could tell that he was upset about something, but what? She lay next to him and put her arms around him. "How was work today?"

"Not much to say," Finn said.

"Okay," Rachel said.

"How'd things go with Shelby and Kylie?" Finn asked.

"Not so well," Rachel admitted. "Pretty similar to how things went three years ago."

"That sucks," Finn said. "How's Kylie taking it?"

"She was pretty upset," Rachel said. "She did cheer up when she saw Kurt, Santana and Blaine watching Gilmore Girls. I do feel bad that things didn't go better with Shelby though."

"Yeah, me too," Finn said. "You two are still her daughters, it's just different."

"Yeah," Rachel said. "Are you sure you're okay, Finn?"

"I wouldn't lie to you, right?" Finn asked.

"Right," Rachel said, giving Finn a kiss.

x

Finn didn't want to lie to Rachel. He didn't like lying to Rachel. Maybe he was taking things too seriously.

Still, he was pretty sure he didn't like the way his co-worker was acting. He was wondering if this qualified as sexual harassment. He hadn't felt comfortable from the first time he met her and she touched his leg, and today she'd made him even more uncomfortable. His mind couldn't help but going back to that moment...

x

"Lucy, I have your mail," Finn said, going into her office.

Lucy got up from her desk and walked over to Finn. "Thank you, Finn."

"No problem," Finn said, starting to leave. Yesterday she'd made him uncomfortable when she touched his leg while tripping, so he wanted to spend as little time here as possible.

"So, are you in law school?" Lucy asked.

"No," Finn said. "I'll be starting at Columbia in the fall for education."

"Columbia, you must be pretty smart," Lucy said, closing the

Finn didn't know what to say to that, but Lucy kept talking. "I'm pretty smart, too. I did my last two years of high school at University of Alabama through the post secondary program. So when the people my age were only sophomores in college, I graduated. Then I got a scholarship to law school, and I interned here. Like I told you, now I'm the youngest lawyer here."

"Good for you," Finn said. "I need to go deliver the rest of the mail."

"You're a very attractive young man," Lucy said.

"I'm with someone," Finn said firmly.

"So?" Lucy asked.

"So I'm not interested in being with anyone else," Finn said.

"She doesn't have to know," Lucy said.

"I don't want to ruin what she and I have," Finn said. And even if he wasn't with Rachel, Lucy was giving him a weird feeling.

"Oh, come on," Lucy said, starting to carress Finn's chest.

Finn jumped back in horror. "Don't touch me!" he snapped.

"No need to get defensive," Lucy said.

"Don't ever touch me like that again," Finn snapped, wanting so badly to just go home.

"Don't tell your girlfriend," Lucy said. "Or anyone. Do you really think people are going to believe the lowly front desk clerk over the brilliant young lawyer?"

Finn froze. He realized Lucy had a point. People probably would believe him over her. Plus, if Rachel found out, she would go ballistic. There was no question.

Finn turned around before leaving Lucy's office. "From now on, I'd feel a lot more comfortable delivering your mail if the door stayed open." He left Lucy's office, not wanting to go back any time soon.

x

"Finn?"

Finn did feel some relief that the hands on his chest right now were Rachel's. "Are you sure you're okay?" Rachel asked. "You're being pretty quiet."

"I've never been as talkative as you," Finn told Rachel.

"Your heart's beating a little faster than usual," Rachel pointed out.

"Rach, I'm fine," Finn snapped. He then noticed the hurt look on Rachel's face and felt horrible. He didn't get mad at her very often.

"Okay," Rachel said. "But if you're ever not okay, you can talk to me."

He wanted to talk to her. He wanted so badly to tell her. And to tell his boss. But he knew that people probably wouldn't believe him over Lucy. He could get fired. He could get in big trouble.

But what was he supposed to do? Just pretend everything was okay when it wasn't?

_Chapter 16 preview: Rachel, Kurt, Blaine and Santana continue to suspect that things aren't right with Finn. Rachel's dads come to New York._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 16!_


	16. Chapter 16: I Don't Like Her

_Thanks so much for all your reviews on Chapter 15. I REALLY appreciate them. I'm sorry I took longer to update this time. Last chapter was the beginning of an arc that I've never really written something like it before and I was a bit nervous, so I was glad that it got a pretty good reception. I know this chapter is longer, but that's mostly because there's so many songs ;) Hope you enjoy and review if you want me to keep going!_

Chapter 16: I Don't Like Her

"How's Kylie doing?" Finn asked as he and Rachel left the grocery store.

"I've been talking with her," Rachel said. "We're going to try to meet up again before she goes back to Ohio. She's doing as well as she can."

"That's something, right?" Finn asked. "Do her parents know?"

"Yeah, they know," Rachel said. "She told me that they really can't be upset with her for wondering. I think they're more annoyed at Shelby."

"That's no surprise," Finn said. "I'm glad you're being there for her."

"Of course I am," Rachel said. "It is important to me that she and I have a bond. I always wanted siblings."

"Finn!" Rachel turned and saw a red haired woman a few years older than them walking toward them. Rachel saw Finn make a face.

"Hi, Finn," the woman said. She looked at Rachel. "Who's this lovely lady?"

"This is Rachel, my girlfriend," Finn said, putting his arm around Rachel and tightening the grip.

"I'm Lucy," the woman said. "I work at the law firm with Finn. I'm the youngest lawyer there."

"Nice to meet you," Rachel said.

"Finn's great to have at the firm," Lucy said. "He's really efficient with his tasks."

"Well, Finn's great at everything," Rachel said with pride. "I'm really lucky to have him as my boyfriend."

"You sure are," Lucy said. "I heard you're a Funny Girl understudy. That's really impressive."

"Well, thank you," Rachel said.

"See you at work, Finn," Lucy said before going. "Nice to meet you, Rachel."

"Oh, you too," Rachel called before turning to Finn. "She seems nice."

"I don't like her," Finn said.

"Why not?" Rachel asked. "Like I said, she seems nice."

Finn paused. "She's a little too... full of herself."

"Oh," Rachel said. "Finn, people used to say that about me..."

"That was before they got to know you," Finn said.

Rachel decided to take Finn's word for it. She'd just met Lucy briefly. Finn worked with her. She was sure Finn knew her better than she did. Rachel and Finn got on the subway and quietly took the subway back to their apartment.

"Did you guys get everything we asked for?" Blaine asked as Finn and Rachel came back into the apartment.

"We did," Rachel said. "We ran into one of Finn's coworkers there."

"Oh, really?" Kurt asked. "We never hear about your coworkers. Or much about your work in general."

"Most of the people I work with could be my parents," Finn said. "And my job is pretty uneventful."

"This woman we ran into wasn't our parents' age," Rachel said. "She was probably only a few years older than us. She was really friendly, but Finn doesn't like her." She didn't understand why Finn didn't like Lucy. She'd been so friendly to them and she'd said nice things about Finn.

"Why don't you like her, Finn?" Kurt asked.

"She's a bitch," Finn said.

Finn didn't use that word very often. "She didn't seem like one."

"I hate her!" Finn snapped. "I just wish she'd quit."

"Finn, this isn't like you," Kurt said. Rachel was glad she wasn't that she was the only one who thought Finn's behavior was strange.

"If you guys knew her like I do, you'd hate her, too," Finn said.

"Okay then," Rachel said. Finn did know Lucy better than she did. Still, something about this was definitely off.

x

"Finn, are you sure everything's going okay at work?" Rachel asked in bed that night.

"Rach, you ask me that every night," Finn said. No. Things weren't okay. He wanted to tell Rachel the truth about Lucy. But he knew that if he told his boss and his boss didn't believe him, he could get fired and that could ruin his career chances.

At least Lucy hadn't bothered him at work in a few days. Mainly because he hadn't been alone with her. Still, she was always giving him those looks.

Finn pulled Rachel close to him. "I love you so, so much."

Rachel gave Finn a kiss. "I love you, too."

Finn cuddled Rachel closer to him.

"Look, Finn, if you don't like your job, you can always quit," Rachel said. "I could get you a job at the diner."

"I'll be fine," Finn said. The law firm paid well and he had benefits there. Working at the diner was definitely a tempting idea though.

x

The next morning, Finn arrived at work, hoping he would be successful with not ending up with any one-on-one time with Lucy. Finn had been managing to avoid Lucy at work, but he and Rachel had just had to run into her at the grocery store. When Finn delivered mail to her office over the past few days, he dropped it on her desk and made a quick escape. He knew there was no way she'd touch him again in the lobby where people could see. Even though what Lucy was doing was wrong, she was clearly smart. And she was probably smart enough to know not to touch Finn in front of their boss.

As Finn got in the elevator on his way to work, Lucy got in just as the elevator door was closing.

"Your girlfriend is ugly," Lucy said to Finn in the elevator.

Finn ignored that comment.

"She's so short," Lucy said.

Finn turned to Lucy. "Don't talk that way about my girlfriend."

"I know you've been avoiding me," Lucy said, moving closer to Finn and starting to rub his chest. "You know Finn, you can do so much better than that Broadway wannabe."

Finn didn't know what to say to this. He was resisting the urge to throw up. "I love her."

The elevator got to the floor the law firm was located on, and Finn couldn't be more relieved. "You leave me alone," he said to Lucy as they walked down the hall. Had she been waiting for him to get in the elevator?

x

"Rachel, are you okay?" Kurt asked as Rachel came into the living room the next morning. "You look exhausted."

"I'm worried about Finn," Rachel told Kurt and Blaine.

"We were just talking about Finn," Blaine said. "He's been acting un Finnish lately."

"Yeah," Rachel said. "That co-worker of his seemed perfectly nice, but he was so hardcore about how much he dislikes her. And last night, he was tossing and turning a lot and he kept looking out the door."

"That's odd," Blaine said.

"I just hope he's okay," Rachel said. "He seems okay lots of the time, but at the same time, he seems nervous a lot."

"Maybe you should try talking to him?" Kurt said.

"I've tried, but he insists everything is okay," Rachel said. "I just hope he's doing okay in New York. I know it's a new city, and a big new city can be overwhelming. What if he wants to leave?"

"I doubt that," Kurt said. "We would miss you two if you left."

"I hope we don't leave," Rachel said. She didn't want to leave New York, but if Finn wanted to, she'd do it.

Santana and Dani came into the room. "Hey guys," Dani said.

"Oh, Santana, I've been meaning to tell you, guess who's coming to visit in a few weeks?" Blaine asked.

"Who?" Santana asked.

"Brittany," Blaine said. "She got into a college here, so she's visiting some schools before she decides where she's going."

"Brittany?" Dani asked. "That would be great, I'd love to meet her."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Blaine," Santana said.

"And why not?" Kurt asked.

"I don't want any drama," Santana said.

"You two are friends, right?" Dani asked.

"Yeah," Santana said.

"Then I'm sure there won't be," Dani assured Santana.

"It will be nice to see Brittany again," Rachel said. She always had liked Brittany. She just hoped that there wouldn't be trouble for Santana, Dani and Brittany.

x

A few days later, Rachel was getting ready for her dads' visit. She was definitely excited to see her dads, especially since she hadn't seen them in a while. Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Santana and Kylie were helping Rachel get the apartment ready. Since Kylie's parents got held up in Ohio and couldn't get a plane in time for the dismissal date from her camp, she spent the night at Rachel's apartment and her parents would pick her up in the morning.

"So, are you sure you don't want Brittany to come visit?" Rachel asked Santana as they sat in the living room.

"Will you guys stop asking about it?" Santana asked.

"Is this Brittany who was in glee right before I joined?" Kylie asked.

"Yeah, she and Santana dated our senior year," Finn said. "There've been so many different dating combinations in our generation of glee kids it would take forever to list them all."

"Well, in the current glee club, there aren't many," Kylie said. "Kitty's dating Artie. Jake and Marley were dating, but they just broke up."

"What happened?" Blaine asked. "They seemed pretty happy."

"Marley said that Jake was pressuring her a lot," Kylie said. "I guess he really wanted to have sex and she isn't ready yet."

"That's too bad," Rachel said. She was glad Finn had never really pressured her.

Rachel heard a knock on the door and then went to answer and she smiled when she saw her dads there. "I missed you guys!" Rachel said, hugging her dads.

"We missed you too!" Hiram said.

"I'm so glad you could come visit," Rachel said.

"We're glad to see you guys, too," Finn said.

"Finn, it's so nice that you and Rachel are back together," Hiram said. "We always hoped that it would be you two."

"We liked Finn better than Puck, Jesse and Brody," LeRoy added.

"Well, that's good, because I only want to be with Finn," Rachel told her dads.

"It's nice to see you, Mr. and Mr. Berry," Blaine said.

"Nice to see you too," LeRoy said. "How do you like New York?"

"I love it," Blaine said.

"It's nice to see you, all three of you," Hiram said to Blaine, Kurt and Santana.

"And Dad, Daddy, this is Kylie, my sister," Rachel said. "And this is Dani, Santana's girlfriend."

"Hi," Kylie said. "Rachel let me spend the night here since my parents can't get in until later today."

"Oh, we're glad to meet you, we heard about you from Rachel," Hiram said.

"Yeah, Rachel always has wanted a sister," LeRoy said. "We were thinking we'd take all of you guys out to lunch. Kylie, when your parents get in, they can meet us at the restaurant if they'd like."

The youth all thought lunch was a good idea, so Rachel's dads took them to Callbacks for lunch. Kylie's parents had arrived from Ohio and joined them for lunch, and shortly after they finished eating, Rachel, Kurt and Santana decided to sing a song together on the stage. They'd done several together throughout their time in New York, but they hadn't done one in a while.

_Santana: The snow glows white on the mountain tonight  
Not a footprint to be seen  
A kingdom of isolation,  
And it looks like I'm the queen.  
Kurt: The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside  
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried  
Rachel: Don't let them in, don't let them see  
Be the good girl you always have to be  
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know  
Well, now they know  
Kurt, Santana and Rachel: Let it go, let it go  
Can't hold it back anymore  
Let it go, let it go  
Turn away and slam the door  
I don't care  
What they're going to say  
Let the storm rage on,  
The cold never bothered me anyway  
Kurt: It's funny how some distance  
Makes everything seem small  
And the fears that once controlled me  
Can't get to me at all  
Santana: It's time to see what I can do  
To test the limits and break through  
No right, no wrong, no rules for me  
I'm free  
Kurt, Santana and Rachel: Let it go, let it go  
I am one with the wind and sky  
Let it go, let it go  
You'll never see me cry  
Here I stand  
And here I'll stay  
Let the storm rage on  
Kurt: My power flurries through the air into the ground  
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around  
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast  
I'm never going back,  
The past is in the past  
Santana and Rachel: Let it go, let it go  
And I'll rise like the break of dawn  
Let it go, let it go  
That perfect girl is gone  
Kurt: Here I stand  
In the light of day  
Let the storm rage on,  
The cold never bothered me anyway_

"The three of you sound really good together," Blaine said after the song.

"You think so?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Blaine said.

"Would you like to do one together?" Kurt asked Blaine. "You deserve to sing a happier song at Callbacks."

"Well, as long as you still want to sing with me here," Kurt said. They headed to the karaoke stand and performed a duet.

_Blaine: There's nothing you can do that can't be done  
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung  
Nothing you can say, but you can learn  
How to play the game,  
It's easy  
Kurt: Nothing you can make that can't be made  
No one you can save that can't be saved  
Nothing you can do, but you can learn  
How to be you in time  
It's easy  
Kurt and Blaine: All you need is love  
All you need is love  
All you need is love, love  
Love is all you need  
Love, love, love  
Love, love, love  
Love, love, love  
All you need is love,  
All you need is love,  
All you need is love, love  
Love is all you need  
Blaine: Nothing you can know that isn't known  
Nothing you can see that isn't shown  
Kurt: There's nowhere you can be that isn't where  
You're meant to be  
It's easy  
Kurt and Blaine: All you need is love  
All you need is love  
All you need is love, love  
Love is all you need  
Love is all you need  
All you need is love  
All you need is love  
All you need is love, love  
Blaine: Love is all you need (Kurt: Love is all you need)  
Blaine: Love is all you need (Kurt: Love is all you need)_

At the end of Kurt and Blaine's duet, Finn turned to Rachel. "Rach, would you like to sing a duet with me?"

Of course Rachel had wanted to sing a duet with Finn. She'd been worried before they came that maybe he wouldn't want to. "Of course I do."

"I have one picked out," Finn said. "I was looking through the song book earlier."

"I'd love to sing with you, Finn," Rachel said.

Finn took Rachel's hand and led her up to the karaoke stand. He showed her the duet he'd picked out and then the music began.

_Finn: I could stay awake just to hear you breathing  
Watch you smile while you are sleeping  
While you're far away and dreaming  
Rachel: I could spend my life in this sweet surrender  
I could stay lost in this moment forever  
Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure  
Finn and Rachel: Don't wanna close my eyes  
I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
Finn: Lying close to you feeling your heart beating  
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming,  
Wondering if it's me you're seeing  
Rachel: Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together  
And I just wanna stay with you  
In this moment forever, forever and ever  
Finn and Rachel: I don't wanna close my eyes  
I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
Finn: I don't wanna miss one smile  
I don't wanna miss one kiss  
Rachel: Well, I just wanna be with you  
Right here with you, just like this  
Finn: I just wanna hold you close  
I feel your heart so close to mine  
Rachel: And just stay here in this moment  
For the rest of time, yeah, yeah, yeah!  
Finn and Rachel: Don't wanna close my eyes  
Don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
I don't wanna close my eyes  
I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream would never do  
and I'd still miss you, baby  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
Don't wanna close my eyes  
I don't wanna fall asleep, yeah  
I don't wanna miss a thing  
I don't wanna miss a thing_

Rachel was reminded of their glee days when the people at Callbacks began applauding for her and Finn. She gave Finn a hug before she went back to their table, another idea coming to her mind. When she sat down, she turned to Kylie. "While we're here, maybe could we sing together?"

"You want to do a duet with me?" Kylie asked.

"Of course I do," Rachel said. She almost told Kylie about how the one thing she wanted to do with Shelby before Shelby left. But maybe that wasn't a good idea. Rachel and Kylie went up to the karaoke stand and Kylie picked out a song for them to sing together.

_Rachel: I can almost see it.  
That dream I'm dreaming, but  
There's a voice inside my head saying  
You'll never reach it  
Every step I'm takin'  
Every move I make  
Feels lost with no direction,  
My faith is shakin'  
But I, I gotta keep tryin'  
Gotta keep my head held high  
Kylie: There's always gonna be another mountain  
I'm always gonna wanna make it move  
Always gonna be an uphill battle  
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose  
Ain't about how fast I get there  
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side  
It's the climb  
Rachel: The struggles I'm facing  
The chances I'm taking  
Sometimes might knock me down, but  
No I'm not breaking  
Kylie: I may not know it, but  
These are the moments that  
I'm gonna remember most, yeah  
Just gotta keep goin',  
And I, I gotta be strong  
Just keep pushing on, 'cause  
Rachel and Kylie: There's always gonna be another mountain  
I'm always gonna wanna make it move  
Always gonna be an uphill battle  
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose  
Ain't about how fast I get there  
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side  
It's the climb  
There's always gonna be another mountain  
I'm always gonna wanna make it move  
Always gonna be an uphill battle  
Somebody's gonna have to lose  
Ain't about how fast I get there  
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side  
It's the climb_

"You two are really, really good," a voice said. Rachel and Kylie both turned and saw Shelby.

"Thank you," Kylie said, looking at Rachel.

"Girls, about the other day..." Shelby began.

"Can we maybe have this conversation in a private place?" Rachel asked. What was Shelby doing here? How had she known that Rachel and Kylie were here? But then, she saw her dads and Kylie's parents coming over.

"Ms. Corcoran, I'm Derek Nichols, and this is my wife Meredith," Kylie's dad said. "We're Kylie's parents."

"It's nice to meet you," Shelby said.

"How could you do that to her?" Meredith asked. "She called us up in tears after what happened at your place."

"They called us and told us about what happened," LeRoy said. "We really would have thought you would have learned something from what happened with Rachel. We had a feeling she would get hurt if she met you."

"I'm sorry," Shelby said. "I didn't mean to hurt Rachel or Kylie.

"I don't want you around Rachel anymore," LeRoy said.

"I don't feel comfortable with you around Kylie either," Derek added.

Rachel and Kylie exchanged a look. It definitely didn't feel good to see their parents arguing in such a public place.

"You can't do that!" Shelby said.

"You gave us the impression you didn't want to see us," Kylie said.

"It's not that!" Shelby protested.

The Callbacks manager came over. "What is going on here?"

"Nothing," Rachel said.

"I was about to go anyway," Shelby said before leaving.

When Shelby was gone, Rachel's dads turned to Kylie's parents. "I'm sorry about that. We chose her to carry Rachel because we got a good impression of her at the interview, but over the past few years we've gotten a feeling of what she's really like," Hiram said.  
"We had a feeling when we met Shelby that she wasn't a good person," Derek said. "That's why we had the adoption closed."

"I don't like her," LeRoy said.

"Neither do I," Meredith said. "But at least the girls still found each other and they're both in homes where they can get what they need."

Kylie leaned over to Rachel and whispered, "She sounded like she was interested in giving us another chance, but do you think our parents would let her?"

Rachel wasn't sure. Her dads didn't even know that she and Shelby had spent some time together in New York. "We'll figure something out," Rachel whispered.

_SONGS: Let It Go from Frozen (performed by Kurt Hummel, Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry), All You Need Is Love by the Beatles (sung by Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson), I Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith (performed by Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry) and The Climb by Miley Cyrus (performed by Rachel Berry and Kylie Nichols)_

_Chapter 17 preview: Brittany comes to New York and so do Puck and Quinn. What does this mean for Brittany, Santana and Dani, and for Rachel, Quinn and Puck? Someone in the apartment becomes suspicious of Lucy._

_10 reviews unlock Chapter 17!_


	17. Chapter 17: Wanted and Unwanted Guests

_Thanks a lot for all the reviews on Chapter 16. As I'm sure you can guess, even though regular seasons of Glee are 22 episodes, this will be a lot more than that and will go to the end of the 2013-2014 school year. (And depending on the reception this gets, I might do a Season 6, too!) Hope you guys enjoy this new chapter and review if you want me to keep going!_

Chapter 17: Wanted And Unwanted Guests

Rachel was sitting in the living room, reading over the Funny Girl script. She hadn't had to go to many rehearsals yet, but it would definitely help to know the lines in case they ever needed her. She'd gotten off work just now, but Kurt and Santana's shifts weren't over yet, and Finn and Blaine were both at work as well.

It was nice to have some quiet time to herself, since things had been a little crazy lately. There had been some drama when her dads visited, especially when her dads and Kylie's parents had ran into Shelby. Rachel hadn't talked to Shelby since they ran into her, but she and Kylie talked frequently, and they both knew that they were hoping that Shelby would want them in her life (rather than going between wanting them in her life and not wanting them in her life) and that their adoptive parents would eventually come around to letting them get to know their birth mother. They also agreed that no matter what ended up happening with Shelby, they were glad that they had found out the truth because this had brought them together.

As Rachel turned the page of her script, she heard a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole, saw it was Brittany and opened the door.

"It's Brittany, bitch!" Brittany shouted.

"Brittany!" Rachel said, giving her friend a hug. "It's great to see you!"

"You too," Brittany said. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're all still at work," Rachel said. "I finished my shift earlier."

"Oh, that's cool," Brittany said, sitting down. "So, are you guys having a fun summer here in New York?"

"We are!" Rachel said. "Do you think you might end up going to school in New York in the fall?"

"I don't know," Brittany said. "MIT wasn't the school for me. They were always putting me in math labs and didn't give me any time to be myself."

"That's not good," Rachel said. "If you were here in New York, you'd know lots of people here."

"Yeah, that's part of the reason why I like New York," Brittany said. "I'll have you, Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Tina, Sam and Artie here."

"Yeah, and Quinn and Puck are nearby," Rachel said.

"Who's this Dani girl?" Brittany asked.

"You'll probably meet her while you're here," Rachel said. "She works at the diner with us. She's nice and I like hanging out with her."

"Do you think Santana's in love with her?" Brittany asked.

Rachel paused. "Well, they just started dating."

"Why's Santana dating her?" Brittany asked Rachel.

How was Rachel supposed to answer this? "Maybe that quetion would be better for Santana."

Before Brittany had a chance to get home from work, Blaine came in. "Brittany!" Blaine exclaimed.

"Hi, Blaine Warbler," Brittany said.

"I'm so glad you're here," Blaine said. "We really missed you the second half of the school year."

"I missed you guys too," Brittany said. "I wish I could have finished up the second half of the year at McKinley. MIT was no fun."

"Where else are you looking at schools for next year besides here in New York?" Blaine asked.

"Lots of Ohio schools," Brittany said.

A little while later, Kurt and Santana arrived home from the diner. "Brittany!" Kurt said, giving her a hug.

"I missed you guys," Brittany said.

"We missed you too," Santana said, hugging Brittany. "Quinn and Puck are coming to visit too, while you're here, so the Unholy Trinity's going to all be together!"

Quinn and Puck were coming? Their last visit hadn't gone so well, so Rachel wasn't sure if she wanted them to visit.

"It's been too long!" Brittany said. "So, Santana, what about Dani?"

"What about her?" Santana asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Is she going to be here at all while I'm here?" Brittany asked.

Rachel gave Santana a look. She could tell that this was uncomfortable for her friend. Santana looked back at Rachel and turned to Brittany. "Well, she was at the diner today. If you don't want to meet her, you don't have to."

"No, I want to meet her," Brittany said.

Rachel didn't know if the fact that Brittany wanted to meet Dani was a good thing or a bad thing.

x

Puck and Quinn arrived from New Haven the next day. Rachel was working later than their other roommates, and she was fine with that. After all, her last few encounters with Quinn hadn't been very pleasant. When Rachel got home from work, Finn, Puck and Blaine were playing video games in the living room, while Kurt, Santana, Brittany and Quinn were sitting in the kitchen talking. Rachel said hi to everone quickly before going to her room. When she got to her room, she heard her door open. She looked up and saw Quinn.

"Hey," Quinn said quietly.

Rachel looked up at Quinn. "Hey."

"Can we talk?" Quinn asked.

Rachel wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to Quinn after what happened last time. "Sure."

Quinn came into Rachel's room and sat down. "Rachel, I'm really sorry about how mad I got at you the last time I visited. It's not your fault and I shouldn't have gotten so angry."

"Well, you and I are both in similar situations, we just have different positions in them," Rachel said. "I think we're both in situations people don't really understand unless they've been through them themselves."

"I just was sad that you got to see Beth and that I didn't," Quinn said. "I really want to get to know Beth, Rachel. I know Shelby's raising her, but I would like to be a second mom, if that makes sense. But I don't have any legal rights to her and Shelby does, so it's really up to her whether I get to see Beth or not." She looked down. "And I think I kind of ruined my chances at that."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think I'll be seeing Beth any time soon," Rachel said.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"Well, Shelby said some things pretty similar to Kylie and me when I took Kylie to meet her," Rachel said. "Kylie was upset and told her parents, and her parents told my dads. Then when her parents and my dads were in New York at the same time, we ran into Shelby, and they told her that they don't want her around us. She sounded like she felt bad about what happened earlier, but my dads sounded like they didn't want her around me."

"Rachel, you're a legal adult," Quinn said. "Technically, your dads can't tell Shelby whether not she can contact you anymore."

"I guess you're right," Rachel said. "But I do feel bad for you. I was talking to Kylie, and we do want our birth mother in our life, but what if this happens again?"

"It is complicated," Quinn said. "Beth's too young to really understand everything, but when she's old enough, I worry that she might not want me in her life. Especially if Shelby tells her about what happened senior year."

"Things will work out," Rachel said. "At least I hope they will."

"I'm sorry, Rachel," Quinn said. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Thanks for talking with me," Rachel said when they heard a noise from the living room.

"Why are you here?" Brittany shouted.

"Oh no," Quinn said to Rachel. "Sounds like Santana's girlfriend is here."

"Yeah, I think so too," Rachel said. They went into the living room, where Finn and Puck were holding back a very angry Brittany, Dani was looking confused and Santana just looked uncomfortable.

"Did I do something wrong?" Dani asked Brittany.

"Of course you didn't do anything wrong," Santana said. "She's my ex girlfriend, I think she's just jealous."

"Santana told me that you guys weren't going to get back together," Dani told Brittany.

"Well, she lied!" Brittany said. "Lord Tubbington's going to come after you!"

"Who's Lord Tubbington?" Dani asked.

"Brittany's cat," Santana said. "Brittany's convinced he has all kinds of superpowers."

"Because he does!" Brittany said. "He's a genius."

"Brittany, you said to me that you thought I should go to New York and get a new girlfriend," Santana said.

"Well, I was wrong," Brittany said. "You can't recreate what you and I have."

"No one's saying I'm doing that," Santana said. "This is something different."

"Break up with her," Brittany said.

"No, I'm not going to," Santana said.

"Then I'm leaving," Brittany snapped, grabbing her bag and storming out of the apartment. "Don't talk to me again until she's out of the picture."

Everyone was quiet for a few moments as Brittany left. "I'm sorry about that," Santana said to Dani.

"Do you still love her?" Dani asked.

"Well, she's my best friend," Santana said. "I do miss having her as a best friend, but I think I'm where I belong now."

"I'm sure she'll come around," Puck said.

"I hope so," Santana said.

x

Puck and Quinn went back to New Haven after about a week in New York, and this visit had been much more pleasurable than their last one. They now had metro passes to New York so they were hoping to visit whenever they could.

After Quinn and Puck left, it was odd not having guests in the apartment since they'd had so many this summer. Rachel had gotten up early to make breakfast for Finn before work when she heard a knock at the door. Kurt, Blaine and Santana were all still asleep, and Finn was in his room getting ready for work, so she had no idea who would be here. When she looked out the peephole, she saw a woman a little older than her with red hair. This was Finn's coworker, right? Rachel opened the door. "May I help you?"

"You remember me, right?" the woman asked. "I'm Lucy. I work with Finn. I was wondering if he'd like to walk to work together."

Rachel knew Finn didn't like Lucy. "Uh, I think he already left."

Lucy stepped into the apartment. "You guys have kind of a crappy apartment."

Insulting their apartment? Now Rachel was beginning to see why Finn didn't like her. "Lucy, I didn't invite you to come in."

"Oh, I don't think you need to," Lucy said. "This is what I do." She looked around. "Lots of Broadway posters, huh?"

"Yeah, I like Broadway," Rachel said.

Lucy picked up a photo on the living room table of Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Santana, Quinn, Puck, Mike and Mercedes at their graduation last year. "Who are these people?"

Rachel was feeling more and more uncomfortable. "Those are our friends from high school. That's from our graduation."

"Oh, I see," Lucy said. She moved on and picked up the photo next to that one, of the eight members of the Class of 2012 with the current members of New Directions at Nationals this year. "Same people, huh?"

"Yeah, Finn and I were in glee club in high school, and that's from when we went to help out at Nationals with our glee club in May," Rachel said.

"Oh," Lucy said. "Rachel, are you and Finn still stuck in high school?"

"What do you mean by that?" Rachel asked.

"How you have photos of your friends from high school all over your apartment," Lucy said. She looked at a photo of Finn, Kurt, Burt and Carole from Burt and Carole's wedding. "Is that Finn's gay brother?"

Now Rachel really had a bad feeling about this. "Lucy, if you're going to insult Kurt, you can just get out of here."

"So that is him?" Lucy asked.

"So what?" Rachel asked. "My dads are gay."

"You have gay parents?" Lucy asked. "Ew, that's gross. Gay people shouldn't have children."

Rachel was resisting the urge to yell at Lucy. "I think you should leave."

"You don't have to be so sensitive," Lucy said. "So, did your dad leave your mom for another man?"

"I've been raised from my dads from the beginning," Rachel said. "And they are amazing parents."

"No, they're not," Lucy said. "Every kid needs a mom and a dad, not two moms or two dads."

"Get out of my apartment," Rachel snapped. "Now."

"I don't know why Finn's so into you," Lucy said. "You're so oversensitive." She held up a photo of Kurt, Blaine, Finn and Rachel. "Is that Finn's brother's boyfriend?"

"Lucy, enough!" Rachel snapped. "I want you out of my apartment, now."

"I guess it is," Lucy said, putting the photo down and holding up one of Rachel and Kylie. "Who's this? Is this your lesbian lover who you're seeing behind Finn's back?"

"No, that's my sister," Rachel said.

"You have a sister?" Lucy asked. "So your dads thought they could get away with two kids?"

"No, we're related via our mom," Rachel said. She didn't want to go into details about Shelby. Not with Lucy, anyway.

Finn came into the living room. "Lucy, why are you here?"

"I was wondering if you might want to walk to work together today?" Lucy asked. "Rachel thought you'd already left for work."

"Actually, I'm not feeling well, so I'm not going to work today," Finn said. He gave Lucy a look of disgust. "How do you know where I live?"

"I have my ways," Lucy said.

"Lucy, I think you should go," Rachel said. "I did not invite you to come in and look around our apartment and insult everyone."

"Get out of here," Finn snapped. "I don't want you in my apartment ever again. If you ever come back, I'm going to call the police."

"You don't have to be so worked up," Lucy said. "I'd better get to work now. Feel better, Finn." She left the apartment as Rachel closed the door behind her, now realizing that Finn definitely had a reason to dislike Lucy.

"She's a psycho!" Rachel said.

"Yes she is," Finn said. "I'm going to go call off work."

"Finn, maybe you should consider quitting your job," Rachel said. "Lucy is trouble. You'd be better off somewhere else."

"Well, I don't see other jobs wanting me to work for them," Finn said. "Rach, I'm really not feeling well. I'm going to go rest."

Rachel gave Finn a kiss. "Okay. Feel better."

"Thanks, Rach," Finn said, going to their room to lie down. As Rachel made breakfast, she felt her stomach hurting. She knew she didn't like Lucy either, and she was also pretty sure she hadn't seen the last of her.

A little while later, Kurt, Blaine and Santana came out for breakfast. "Where's Finn?" Blaine asked.

"Finn's not feeling well," Rachel said. "He's sleeping. Plus, he had an upsetting experience this morning."

"What happened?" Santana asked.

"That coworker of his showed up at the apartment," Rachel said. "Lucy, the one Finn and I ran into at the grocery store and Finn told me he didn't like. When we saw her at the grocery store, I thought she was nice. But she was looking around our apartment and insulting our stuff. Finn didn't even know how she found out where we live."

"She sounds like a stalker," Blaine said.

"Okay," Kurt said. "I'm sorry, but I have to say this: that Lucy girl is trouble."

"I thought she was nice when I met her at the grocery store, but showing up at our apartment was not cool," Rachel agreed. "I have noticed that ever since Finn started that job, he's been different. He's been quieter, and he talks in his sleep at night."

"Do you think Lucy's been bothering him at work?" Blaine asked.

"She's interested in him, I can tell," Rachel said.

"Well, do you think it might be more than that?" Blaine asked.

"What do you mean, more than that?" Rachel asked.

"She found our apartment, Rachel," Blaine said. "That's definitely not normal. All of us have been into people, but we've never taken things as far as she did, just walking in."

"We'll have to keep an eye on Finn," Rachel said. "All of us. I told him he should quit that job, but he's worried no other job will take him."

"Yeah, I don't want him there," Kurt said.

"Maybe we should confront Lucy," Santana said.

"She's an attorney," Rachel said. "I doubt things would come out in favor of us..."

"Rachel, we need to make sure she's not doing anything to Finn that she isn't supposed to," Blaine said.

Rachel didn't know what to say. Lucy couldn't be doing anything that she wasn't supposed to be doing - could she?

_Chapter 18 preview: Lucy takes things too far and is confronted by some residents of the loft. Rachel also starts practices as the understudy._

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